Selected projects
4.19.13 Twentieth-century fortifications: the Cold War
Work has continued on the assessment of twentieth-century military sites for the Monuments Protection Programme, and undertaken by the Council for British Archaeology. The first phase of this project is complete, and the second phase is due for completion late in 1998. We have received reports covering: anti-invasion measures 1939-45; anti-aircraft artillery 1914-46; bombing decoys 1939-45; Operation Diver sites 1944-45; Operation Overlord preparatory sites 1942-45; airfield defences 1940-45; and Cold War sites 1947-69. Work has also been undertaken for our Listing Team on the development of airfields, and reports on civil defence 1939-45, acoustic detection and radar 1920-45, and coast artillery 1900-56 are also being prepared.
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The national Cold War study is based on information held at the Public Record Office, Kew, but unlike the other studies, it is selective in its coverage, although the four site types included do reflect the most dominant physical characteristics of the Cold War: the radar stations and some of the associated sites established under the Rotor programme (1950-58) - Rotor was the plan issued in 1950 for the restoration of Britain's air defence control and reporting network; the Bloodhound surface-to-air guided missile (SAGW) sites (1957-69); the Thor intermediate range nuclear missile bases (1958-63); and works of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) warning and monitoring organisation, 1947-69. The second and last of these continued in use beyond the chronological limit of our survey.
The overwhelming importance of air defence during the Cold War is reflected in the provenances of the main papers used in this survey, which are almost exclusively those of the Air Ministry and the Royal Air Force. Air Ministry files for example contain key information on the development of radar, SAGW defence, and the ROC, for which it had shared responsibilities with the Home Office.
The Cold War began in 1947 and ended in 1990, but 1969 was chosen as the end date for our study for two main reasons. The Thirty Year Rule governing the release of government documents means that only files closed in or before 1968 are generally available for inspection. It was also in 1969 that responsibility for operating Britain's nuclear deterrent passed from the V-bombers of the Royal Air Force to the Royal Navy's Polaris submarines, and although this change left some aspects of the infrastructure discussed in our survey untouched, it does mark the beginning of a new era in Britain's modern defences.
Some 1200 individual sites are mapped and discussed in our survey, which as usual focuses on typology, site distributions, and chronology, all placed within an historic context, which in this case includes events that many of us still remember: Korea, Suez, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam. Many of these 1200 sites were divided between several discrete locations, and others (principally ROC posts) were often moved. As a result 2233 grid references have been recorded in the gazetteers. Very few of these currently appear on the county Sites and Monuments Records, and none are scheduled. The figures compare as follows:
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Site type
|
no of grid refs
|
no on SMR
|
| ROC posts |
2043
|
49
|
| Rotor |
159
|
5
|
| Bloodhound |
11
|
0
|
| Thor |
20
|
0
|
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Of the ROC posts, 413 are known to have been occupied by Orlit posts - a simple prefabricated observation post designed by the Orlit company for the Royal Observer Corps when its role was chiefly to provide visual information on low-flying aircraft. There were two designs: both consisted of a simple rectangular box of precast concrete (externally resembling a water tank) 10 ft long by 6 ft 8 in wide, divided by a partition into a shelter/store area and an observation area, where the standard ROC plotting instrument and table were erected. A removable cover protected the post when it was not in use. The designs differed only in position: Type B were raised 6 ft above ground level on four legs, again of precast concrete; Type A stood at ground level. Of the 413 Orlit posts, 207 were Type A, 206 Type B. These were built and used between 1952 55.
Britain's political need for a fallout monitoring system was confirmed in February 1954, and the new underground shelter to fulfil this task was designed in 1955-6. The basic structure consisted of a simple rectangular box of reinforced concrete, 19 ft by 8 ft 6 in plan and 7 ft 6 in high internally, entered by a ladder through a single hatch. There were problems in establishing the building's internal services and fittings, and much of the developmental work was undertaken at the prototype post at Farnham, Surrey. Newly released reports from the Home Office Scientific Advisor's Branch show that this first experimental structure formed the venue for a series of trials extending over three years. Simple manning tests held at the end of September 1956 assessed how long a crew could survive below ground under sealed conditions; this was followed by cold weather endurance and atmospheric tests. Construction of underground posts started in 1957 and finished in mid 1965, when the target population for the UK was 1561, of which 985 were built in England.
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The Royal Observer Corps was stood down in September 1991, less than a year after George Bush stated 'we have closed a chapter of history; the Cold War is over.' Our survey has ensured that these now redundant structures, along with other monuments of the Cold War, are seen as a part of England's historic resource, and they will appear on Sites and Monuments Records once our lists have been circulated. The results of our work, coupled with the survey of selected Cold War sites being undertaken by RCHME, and the work of the Defence of Britain Project, will ensure that these sites can be given appropriate consideration at a local level. The most outstanding and representative examples might be preserved, either through listing or scheduling, although precise criteria for selecting these remains to be discussed.