Building record TQ 77 NW 1206 - Royal Observer Corps Post, Cliffe

Shaft blocked with concrete, surface structures in fair condition and recognisable. Some posts of boundary fence still in place. Site heavily overgrown. Built as part of Cold War precautions to monitor Nuclear blasts and radiation.
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : Yes
How accessed for survey : From side of road, easy to access.
Tourism Potential : Limited
Condition : moderate
Date of visit : 11/12/06

Underground concrete bunker with vertical access shaft and one main chamber. Sound condition but interior fittings stripped out. (1)

A Royal Observer Corps monitoring post. The site is located (with the surface features intact) in the bushes on the north side of Buttway Lane. 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 poor condition. The site was opened during June 1961 and closed in October 1968. (3-4)

D. Wood, 01/01/75, Attack Warning Red (Article in monograph). Ske14261.

MMRG, 11/12/06, Royal Observer Corp UG post (Photograph). SKE14499.

MMRG, 11/12/06, Royal Observer Corp UG post (Photograph). Ske14499.

<1> Victor Smith and Ron Crowdy, Thames Gateway Assesment: Gazetteer of Defence Sites (Index). SKE6445.

<2> D. Wood, 01/01/75, Attack Warning Red (Article in monograph). SKE14261.

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

<4> CBA Defence of Britain Project, 1994, Defence of Britain Site Report (Bibliographic reference). SKE6447.