WW2: Britain’s Giant Concrete Ears

Written by Alan Bellows on 09 September 2005

Early in World War 2, before the invention of radar, the British isles had an interesting system devised to detect incoming enemy aircraft. They constructed a number of huge, concrete, acoustic mirrors which focused and amplified sounds coming from a given direction. Some were bowl-shaped and over 30 feet in height, and others were shaped like an amphitheater wall, over 200 feet long.

Inside the structure, a trained listener would use a stethoscope to detect the distance and direction of incoming aircraft as far as 20 miles away. Although they were soon made obsolete by the invention of radar, they were used with success in their time.

A few of these remain in Britain today, and are now being preserved for their historical significance.

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Alan Bellows is the founder, designer, and managing editor of DamnInteresting.com, and he is perpetually behind schedule.


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#1 ynggrsshppr 01 April 2006 at 11:29 am

The ingeniuity shown during wartime never ceases to amaze me.

#2 solitas 02 April 2006 at 11:01 am

Fascinating. I’d never heard about these; but had known about “Can You Hear Me Now?” (http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=486).

#3 buttered_toast 30 November 2006 at 05:38 pm

Why cant we take that sort of effort and plug it into doing good for the rest of humanity?

#4 Wargamer 14 February 2007 at 04:03 pm

I’ve studied some of this stuff and you’d be amazed at how far away we could actually hear things and they even had ‘experts’, like our communications officers on submarines, who could tell you what kind of planes were out there out of sight.

We use the very same seemingly simple methods for space work too. Look at all those giant arrays we have to just listen to sounds/signals coming from outer space.

Can anyone say ‘whooville’? lol’
Dr Seuss

#5 CountriKitten 28 February 2007 at 05:01 pm

In San Francisco at the Exploratorium they have two similar structures across the building from each other, and if one person sits in one & another in the other, you can hear each other perfectly clearly though you are speaking at a normal volume, are easily 100 yards apart, and several people are usually walking around in the area between you. It’s really neat!

#6 Howard Robard Hughes IIV 02 June 2009 at 02:12 am

They also used concrete ships..YES concrete will floot with the right masse to load%`s many U boats were baited into flootia traps useing concrete frighters with retrofitted big guns and hidden tech ships.DISHES micro classifed in WWII on battle ships.I use to have pixs but the DOD took them.Alum dishes and arkdown wireless warfare tac used to disable U boats.AC arkdown into water made the controls fail on the U boats and left them dead in the water could`nt dive or get air.CONCRETE ARKDOWN SHIPS for the allied forces.MEXICO gave us 60% of all fuel and food CHURUBUSCO hughe`s/disney mex studioz fought the SS euro USA film bandaments

#7 Howard Robard Hughes IIV 02 June 2009 at 02:18 am

Last note NO big guns on concrete ships but on center of flootia battle ships..concrete would`nt with stand impacts from recoils BUT outer flootia ARK down concrete frighters PUT the SS boats in death traps DEAD IN the water to be blown up or left to die without any air or power.SS .RUBEL/ RICHARD ELDON HARROLD arkdown TACICAL and cookie

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WW2: Britain’s Giant Concrete Ears