Secret Nuclear Bunker
Home » Photography »I’ve often driven past the sign that points towards a Secret Nuclear Bunker, in Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, but never visited. We decided at the weekend that we would finally go and see it.
A friend of mine who knows the bunker very well, took us on a guided tour; but if you don’t have such a luxury, there are handsets that will inform you about the bunker as you walk around. The entry fee is £7.50 for adults, and £5 for children (5-15years). You pay by way of an ‘honesty box’ at the end of the tour.
Of course, we can laugh at a sign pointing out a secret nuclear bunker and saying how it’s not so secret…but my understanding is, is that it was a secret, and other than a radio mast on the fields above (for emergency broadcasts), you wouldn’t know anything was there! The entrance to the bunker itself is just an unassuming cottage…it was fascinating to see what lies beneath. Here is my photo tour (with permission) of the bunker. To read more about the bunker, you can check out the Wiki Page and the bunker’s website.
The bunker was decommissioned in 1994 – not that long ago really, and whilst it was an interesting walk around, it was also very scary to think about what its use was. A lot of the equipment has been left behind and that forms the artefacts of this museum.
The bunker, could have been ‘home’ to 600 military and civilian personnel – on rotation, and whilst I didn’t feel cramped or claustrophobic whilst walking around, I can dare to imagine what it would be like with that volume of people inside…
Would the PM of the time have taken residence here at the point of nuclear attack? The dummies placed around the bunker did have us laughing, but they also added something quite eerie to it!
Along the way, there were various TV rooms where films where being shown – telling you how to bunker down in the event of a nuclear bomb, or how a blast would effect the surrounding areas…quite spooky to watch. For your average civilian to create a shelter at home, it showed how to pile things up next to a table, or under the stairs – to take cover from the blast. This photo shows a typical set up.
Spanning 3 levels, the bunker is huge, and took us around an hour or so to walk around and take everything in. Add another hour if you want to stop and watch all the videos that are on a loop and dotted around each level.
Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel and we were back out in civilisation, and me, personally, glad to be out of there. I hope it never has to be recommissioned in my lifetime!