Lost Cold War nuclear bunker discovered beneath Yorkshire’s Scarborough Castle
A Cold War-era concrete bunker that was once a secret outpost of Britain’s nuclear defences has been uncovered during an archaeological dig at Scarborough Castle.
The underground facility built to house Royal Observer Corps (ROC) volunteers tasked with planning for nuclear bomb impacts across Britain has been discovered in the grounds of a historic North Yorkshire landmark.
English Heritage experts have now opened the entrance to the room and lowered the cameras to assess its condition.
The bunker is one of 1,500 built across the country between 1963 and 1964, designed to detect nuclear explosions and withstand an attack.
Vital missions included communications facilities and bunks for the PRC’s largely unsung 20,000-man volunteer force.
This particular bunker appears to have been sealed and buried in 1968.
Its exact location and condition were unknown until now, according to English Heritage.
The discovery forms part of a wider project the charity is running to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the PRC.
It also includes a search for past members and an event at York Cold War Bunker.
Excavations started on March 7. Following the analysis of existing data and the newly commissioned ground survey.
“Wherever you lived in Britain, you were probably within a few miles of a ROC outpost, but few people knew they existed,” said Kevin Booth, head of collections at English Heritage.
“It seems odd that a Cold War bunker would be built inside Scarborough Castle, but in many ways it’s the perfect location: this headland has been an observation post for thousands of years, from a Bronze Age settlement to a Roman signal station, a medieval fort, a World War II artillery battery and, here, a 1960s concrete bunker monitoring Armageddon.”
Helen Featherstone, Northern England director of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said the finding was “really exciting”.
He said it “built our understanding” of the PRC and “shed light on their important work protecting the UK”.
The project was implemented with the money collected from National Lottery players.
