Hidden beneath the grassy slopes near Broadway Tower lies one of the Cold War's best-kept secrets — a nuclear monitoring bunker built in 1961 by the Royal Observer Corps. Part of a nationwide network of 1,563 underground posts, the bunker was designed to monitor nuclear fallout in the event of a Soviet attack on Britain.
The cramped underground chamber, accessed through a hatch in the ground, contained instruments to measure blast pressure, ground zero location, and radiation levels. Three volunteers would have been sealed inside for up to three weeks, reporting readings by telephone to regional headquarters.
“Three volunteers would have been sealed inside for up to three weeks, reporting readings by telephone to regional headquarters.”
The bunker was maintained until 1991 when the Royal Observer Corps was stood down after the end of the Cold War. Today it is preserved and occasionally opened for guided tours, offering a sobering reminder of how close the world came to nuclear conflict. The contrast between the peaceful Cotswold hilltop and the grim purpose of the bunker below is striking.
