A Corsham bunker fit for a Queen . . . if Britain had come under nuclear attack
New research and now a new book by Nick Catford shows that if there had been a nuclear attack on Britain in the ’50s or ’60s the Queen would have been taken to an underground bunker at Corsham
Over the years, there has been masses of speculation about what would have happened to the Queen and the rest of the royal family if Britain had come under nuclear attack during the Cold War.
Research for a new book has now revealed that they would almost certainly have come to Corsham. They would have passed the danger period in a fantastic underground bunker on Westwells Road in a suite of rooms, one of which has a reinforced concrete ceiling and where its butler's bells are now lying in a state of decay. With them would have been the war cabinet and a small army of selected civil servants.
At the height of the Cold War in 1955 British Prime Minister Anthony Eden gave approval for the construction of an out-of-London, bomb and radiation proof bunker.
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The bunker would be a secret alternative central government war HQ 100 miles to the west of London.
The site chosen was on the outskirts of Corsham. In the event of a nuclear war it was from there that the war cabinet, chiefs of staff and 4,000 selected civil servants would have guided the country through the aftermath of nuclear war. It would also have been from there than any decision to take retaliatory action would have been taken.
For half a century the Corsham bunker was the most secret site in the country.
Beneath a seemingly innocuous yard on Westwells Road in Corsham, signposted as a PSA distribution depot there lay hidden a subterranean Whitehall in microcosm.
When the site was unexpectedly declassified in 2004 the few visitors allowed in were astounded to find a most fantastic collection of facilities including 400 typewriters, 700 teleprinters as well as abandoned kitchens and catering equipment.
Now the story of Burlington: the Central Government War HQ is told by cameraman and subterranean photographer Nick Catford in his new book.
Burlington has been published by Folly Books Ltd of Monkton Farleigh near Bath at £24.99.
Nick sets the scene in an introductory chapter which gives a comprehensive history of the Cold War in relation to the many subterranean bunkers that are now its legacy. This is followed, chapter by chapter, by detailed plans of each of the 22 areas which the bunker contains along with an authoritative text, masses of photographs and comprehensive captions.
The publishers say that research utilising the Freedom of Information Act carried out in preparation for Nick's book has thrown up convincing evidence that the Queen and her family along with a few support staff were destined to spend the danger period in this bunker of all bunkers.
Comments
by CyrilCringe
Saturday, January 12 2013, 12:23PM
“@DaveF_Walcot I was responding to what, in your post, appeared to be an anti-establishment use of the phrase "privileged few". Of course if I am wrong then I apologise, no offence was intended.
The equipment and fittings, furnishings and facilities in the bunker are all of that period in our history and that is what I meant when I described it as symbolic of life at that time. Class/Establishment/Privilege had nothing to do with my post or what I saw in the bunker. Quite the opposite in fact, there is a kitchen, canteen, communication swtchboard and sleeping accommodation down there, all of which could be found in factories, hospitals and telephone exchanges throughout the country. A museum in all but name.”
by jezer
Saturday, January 12 2013, 12:17PM
“Well, the Duke of Edinburgh would have felt at home in Corsham, given his escapades in the Methuen Arms during WW2”
by DaveF_Walcot
Saturday, January 12 2013, 12:05PM
“"Try not to let your anti-establishment socialist dogma cloud your perception so much"
Err... Come again?”
by CyrilCringe
Saturday, January 12 2013, 10:59AM
“@DaveF_Walcot I was referring to the contents of the bunker which are akin to a time capsule from that time. You might be surprised to learn that even the Royals would have had a relatively austere existence in it, as would the others of your idea of a privileged few. As for who they would've been, a lottery type selection process would've been used for the majority of 'workers' placed there and they would've come from the lower ranks and positions in the support services of the time. Try not to let your anti-establishment socialist dogma cloud your perception so much. Bunkers like these were all over the country and a lot of ordinary lowly working class people would have been included in the selection lists had they been needed. The Ark was reputed to only take two of everything such is the selection process some are saved whilst others perish. Would you describe the adage "Women and Children first" as the privileged few? No I don't think so. In any disaster there will be a need to protect/save a particular section of society and that includes more "worker bees" if you like to call them that rather than the privileged few.”
by DaveF_Walcot
Saturday, January 12 2013, 1:05AM
“An interesting use of the word 'secret' in this report. The authors obviously have a different dictionary to me.
As it's an underground nuclear fallout shelter, only to be used in an emergency by the privileged few, surely it's the exact opposite of "life at that time"?”
by Imp-Act
Friday, January 11 2013, 10:18PM
“LOL! And we would have kept alive the AH's that started the whole scenario in the first place! Oh! And that family of misfits! OMG! I can hear the red arrows screaming in!”
by CyrilCringe
Friday, January 11 2013, 2:21PM
“As someone who has seen the bunker at first hand I can say it an incredible microcosm of life at that time.”
by CyrilCringe
Friday, January 11 2013, 2:17PM
“As someone who has seen the bunker at first hand I can say from personal experience it is an incredible microcosm of life at that time.”