ACOMB COLD WAR BUNKER: :

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The York Cold War Bunker was constructed in 1961 as part of Britain’s defence against the impact of a nuclear strike, should the Cold War escalate. The site operated within a national network of bunkers whose role was to observe and locate nuclear explosions, report on power and altitude, and track ensuing radiation.

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This network came under the umbrella of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO), part of the Home Office, but it was operated by the Royal Observer Corps (ROC), a largely voluntary organisation which at the peak of its nuclear reporting role counted over 25,000 members nationally.

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The York network was administered by one full-time and two part-time paid officers supporting several hundred volunteers across the group. Three evenings a week, ROC crews underwent training. Periodic exercises were conducted, the longest of which were staged over 24–36 hours. The bunker remained otherwise unoccupied, waiting for a change in the global political climate indicating a possible move toward conflict. Should tensions rise sufficiently, the ROC would be put on alert, with crews rotating round the clock at the Group Control. Had an imminent threat of attack been logged, the Control doorway would be closed, with the bunker containing those on duty committed to watching, waiting and responding.

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Across the 30-year operational period, including during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the network was never put on full operational alert.

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In 1989 a wave of popular uprisings brought an end to communist rule and Soviet dominance across Eastern Europe, symbolised by the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of that year. As the tensions and stand-off of the Cold War dissipated, the immediate threat of nuclear conflict lifted. The majority of the ROC was stood down on 30 September 1991, with the network of bunkers finally closing in March the following year. Aspects of the York Control were removed, notably communications kit, but otherwise its steel door was locked and the interiors remained untouched.

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In 2000 English Heritage made the move to take what was, by then, a remarkably intact survival of Britain’s nuclear culture into its portfolio of properties. After a five-year programme of conservation and research, the site was opened as our most modern attraction.