Down the stairs on the lower level of the bunker, is the most secure area. Here, forty feet below ground, is where the cabinet met. It is also the wettest area and despite automatic pumps recently fitted, there is still a little standing water. It is no longer more than a foot deep as it recently was! There are plenty of signs of the wet environment in the festoons of dry rot on walls and fittings and it is quite interesting to see in places.


Here the main coridoor is less clean and dry then the upper level. The lower level is smaller and this shot shows the whole length of the coridoor. Rooms only lead off on one side, with just the main stairs on the other.


The results of water damage are apparent in this filing cabinet. Not much point in taking this to the Antiques Roadshow.
The door in the background of the above shot leads into what was the Cabinet Room, where the 15 members of the War cabinet would have met. The two pictures below are of this room, arguably the most important in the bunker. This room has only one door, more lights than most rooms and more ventilation equipment. It is at one end of the lower level and there is a message hatch into an office next door, which has tables round the walls, for teleprinter equipment. Information from staff from the original Cabinet War Rooms on a visit here helped us to work out what might have been the purpose of some rooms.



The end of the room above the message hatch has some very impressive fungal growth!


While we can not be sure of the exact use of many rooms in the bunker, this one is the map room. There would have been maps on the right wall, and those lights are shaded to light the maps. Along the centre of the floor is a cable duct to carry the necessary cables, needless to say now full of water. This room would be in constant use, with windows from other departments around it.



This shows one of the tours in the map room and gives an idea of scale. There is no heating in the bunker and like most underground structures the temperature is constant in here. It is wet, a bit smelly and not over warm, but its original and a real taste of history!


The most complete room is the generator room. Apart from the decay this is just like it was left. The generator is in the centre,


To the right more plant,


and to the left the generator controls.


If you think you have a damp and mould problem in your bathroom, then this might just change your mind! All of this was cleared a few weeks ago and has re grown swiftly.