Bletchley Park Trust - Fenny Stratford Repeater Station

What made it of local interest was the fact it was one of the first repeater stations to be built in this country, and the two large single cylinder heavy oil engines that were installed there to generate the electricity required by the apparatus.

These engines had a local connection, being descendants of the type developed by Ackroyd Stuart in 1890 at his workshops nearby on the corner of Denmark Street and Victoria Road.

The buildings still stand today and are used as a shop that bears a plaque in memory of Ackroyd Stuart's work.

Map of underground trunk telephone cables c.1914 showing location of Fenny Stratford.

Throughout the Second World War, the Post Office provided and maintained all the teleprinters, associated equipment and circuits at Bletchley Park. This provided the vital communications to and from the 'Y' Stations, government and military establishments as required by the Government Code & Cipher School.

There were eventually around 350 - 400 teleprinters at Bletchley Park. These and all the associated equipment were part of the Post Office Defence Teleprinter Network (DTN).

Although there was an apparatus room housing the telegraph equipment and some repeaters on site, the main route from Bletchley Park into the network was via Fenny Stratford Repeater Station.

The Museum at Bletchley Park has a considerable collection of teleprinters, telegraph equipment and repeaters, some of which are on display to the public. Many of the repeaters in the collection are ex-Fenny Stratford and date from the 1920s. The Museum also has a large collection of documents and circuit diagrams relating to Fenny Stratford Repeater Station.


General view of Telegraph and Repeater Apparatus on display at Bletchley Park.	Another view of the display, 500/20 hertz ringing supply rack in foreground.