Building record TR 25 SW 155 - Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Underground Monitoring Post, Barham

Underground monitoring post built to monitor nuclear bomb explosions and the drift of fallout. Built in 1960 it was closed in Septemebr 1991. It is locked and in good external condition. In 1994 the site was visited and paperwork removed and given to the ROC Museum. One of the papers refered to routine checks for UKNET seismograph equipment as it was used at one stage for nuclear test ban verification. (1)

By 1925 there was a Royal Observer Corps observation Post at Barham (designated 1/C2), beside a track to the east of Upper Digges Place. In late April 1941 this was listed as falling ‘within the perimeter of a home guard defended area’. After the Second World War it was replaced by the present, exceptionally well-preserved, underground post, on the same site. It is not yet clear whether anything survives of the Second World War post.
Owner : Unknown
Publicly accessible : Unknown
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential :
Condition : unknown
Date of visit :

A Royal Observer Corps monitoring post with seismic equipment. The site is located (with the surface features intact) in a square fenced compound beside public footpath/farm track 500 yards west of Adisham Road (B2048). The site was built as part of an extensive network of posts designed to confirm and report hostile aircraft and nuclear attacks on the United Kingdom. At the time of the Defence of Britain survey (1995-2002) the site was found to remain in a good condition. The site was opened during June 1960 and closed in September 1991. (1-3)
(2)

<1> Kent Defence Research Group, 1999, Ravelin Special No.8 The Royal Observer Corps: Underground in Kent & Essex (Monograph). SKE7996.

<2> 43 Division General Staff, 01/01/41, War Diary 43 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). SKE15158.

<3> Council for British Archaeology, 2002, Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SKE32029.