Dig at medieval castle reveals lost relic from the Cold War
It has been dubbed a “concrete bunker watching for Armageddon”
An archaeological dig at a 12th-century castle has unearthed a lost relic from the Cold War dubbed a “concrete bunker watching for Armageddon”.
An underground facility built to protect and house Royal Observer Corps (ROC) volunteers tasked with plotting nuclear bombs falling across Britain has been discovered in the grounds of Scarborough Castle, which dominates the North Yorkshire seaside resort.
Experts from English Heritage have opened the entrance and have lowered cameras into the chamber below to assess its condition.
The bunker is one of 1,500 that were built across the country in 1963-64 to detect nuclear explosions and were designed to withstand an attack.
They included communications facilities and bunkbeds for the occupiers from the ROC – a largely unsung civil defence organisation with more than 20,000 volunteers.
This one appears to have been sealed and buried in 1968 and its location and condition have remained unknown ever since, English Heritage said.
The discovery is part of a project led by the charity to mark 100 years of the ROC, with a search for past members and an event at the York Cold War Bunker.
Following analysis of existing data and a newly commissioned ground survey, a dig began on March 7.
English Heritage head of collections, Kevin Booth, said: “Wherever you lived in Britain, you were probably no more than a few miles from an ROC post – yet few people knew they existed.
“It seems strange to have a Cold War bunker built inside Scarborough Castle, but in many ways it is a perfect location: this headland has been an observation post for thousands of years, from a Bronze Age settlement, a Roman signal station, a medieval castle, a Second World War gun battery and, here, a 1960s concrete bunker watching for Armageddon.”
Helen Featherstone, director of England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “It’s really exciting that this lost bunker has been uncovered by the team working on this project, marking 100 years of the Royal Observer Corps.
“This find builds on our understanding of their story and shines a spotlight on their important work protecting the UK.
“The project has been made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, and I’m sure that they will be thrilled to know that they have played a role in this discovery.”