York Cold War Bunker

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York Cold War Bunker

Designed as a nerve-centre to monitor fall-out in the event of a nuclear attack, York Cold War Bunker uncovers the secret history of Britain's Cold War.

25/10/2026

Did you remember to set your clocks last night?

We only have 1 clock on site, and it's the sector clock in our canteen, which we acquired earlier this year! This is a mechanical sector clock, made in 1941 by F.W. Elliot. If we hadn't studied it, we would know it was mechanical because the coloured segments point outwards, where electric sector clocks' coloured segments pointed inwards.

24/10/2026

Visited York Cold War Bunker recently and want more information about the network? All the staff at the bunker love Subterranea Britannica ! It's a fantastic resource to learn about any underground structure, including, of course Royal Observer Corps monitoring posts.

18/10/2026

Busy doing our favourite thing on sunny Sunday morning!

12/10/2026

Ahhh! A ghost! In the bunker!

Okay, so we're not actually haunted. But in 2017, eight writers wrote ghost stories about English Heritage and Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, chose York Cold War Bunker, and we held the premiere for the book on site! 👻

11/10/2026

What are the nearest ROC bunkers to York?

At the end of the Cold War, there were roughly 40 smaller 3-person bunkers dotted around North Yorkshire, but which are closest to us?

Post numbers 36, 47 and 38 are closest to us. These were the ROC bunkers at Tockwith, Strensall, and Fulford. The Fulford bunker changed location, as the original site was demolished in 1973 to make way for the A64 around York.

10/10/2026

Nowhere we'd rather be!

08/10/2026

It's ! This is what the bunker looked like at standdown in 1991. We've not changed much since then!

Do you have any pictures of Royal Observer Corps bunkers?

04/10/2026

It's always "you should organise the girl's trip!" but never "I learnt so much about Britain's response to the Cold War, thank you!"

03/10/2026

The temperatures outside may be dropping, but inside we're the same temperature as ever (16⁰C!) 🌡

During nuclear war, however, the temperature inside the bunker would be very high. This is because when a nuclear bomb detonates, it heats up the air to unbearable temperatures, and there was not enough water on site to keep the bunker at a low temperature. The air inside the bunker would be safe to breathe, but not pleasant. The plant room, seen here, would be one of the hottest rooms of the site, due to all the machinery.

27/09/2026

We had the privilege of hosting Civil Defence Living History Group this week in the bunker! It was incredible talking to them about the Royal Observer Corps and Civil Defence, and seeing their uniforms!

Address

Monument Close
York
YO244HT

Website

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/yorkbunker

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