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The Nuclear Bunker.
Hidden in a wood off the A128 Ongar - Brentwood Road, is a small bungalow which hides a BIG secret. Behind it lies a three floored bunker complex in which 600 people would have been confined behind blast proof doors in the event of a nuclear war.
The bungalow at the entrance to the bunker
The deep bunker was built in 1952/3 as part of Rotor, an urgent government building programme to improve Britain's air defence network. The bunker was the Sector Operations Command for the RAF Fighter Command. Known as SOC - R4, it was to provide command and control of the London Sector of Fighter Command.
The bunker is 125 feet underground and the entrance is through an ordinary looking bungalow amongst some trees. Once into the bungalow, it leads to a 100 yard tunnel before you are in the bunker itself. Above you are two more floors, the 'hill' which covers it, and a radio mast, one of two, which would have been vital for communications.
The entrance tunnel
The reason for the bunker was to take on a far more potentially catastrophic aim in the 1960s. Because of the threat of nuclear war the bunker became the regional government bunker for London. The aim of the bunker was that it was to be one of the government administration centres communicating with the many other smaller bunkers situated throughout the country, organising the country after a nuclear attack.
Part of the 1,000 line telephone exchange
Substantial improvements were made to the bunker to create an environment for 600 people to survive, work and be self-sufficient for up to three months in the event of a nuclear war. The bunker had air-conditioning, heating, cooling, its own water supply and generators, and even its own operating theatre.
The power generating plant room
There was a BBC studio which would have broadcast to the population (if there was any left) and the rest of the world.
Three tiered bunks in the tunnel entrance provide additional sleeping accommodation
The bunker was maintained at great expense during the 70, 80s and early 90s, until it was sold by the government back to the farming family who had originally lost it to the government in 1950s.
It is now open to the public and the entrance is 1/2 mile to the north of St. Nicholas' Church, Kelvedon Hatch on the A128 towards Ongar. For details on how to visit this interesting site visit the bunker web-page. (Warning: You will be taken out of this site)