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A Cold War lookout post has been rediscovered in the grounds of Scarborough Castle. Built in 1963-1964, it is one of over 1,500 posts constructed across the UK to detect nuclear explosions. This example was sealed and buried in 1968; its location remained lost and its condition unknown, until now. Experts from English Heritage, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, identified the post’s location using pre existing records and a recent ground survey. Excavations revealed the entrance to the bunker, and archaeologists have now opened it up to assess the condition inside.
The post was built to a standard layout, designed to defend its inhabitants from nuclear warfare, featuring communications facilities and bunkbeds for the Royal Observer Corps volunteers who manned such posts.
Kevin Booth, Head of Collections at English Heritage, commented, ‘It seems strange to have a Cold War bunker built inside Scarborough Castle, but in many ways, it is a perfect location: this headland has been an observation post for thousands of years, from a Bronze Age settlement to a Roman signal station, medieval castle, WWI gun battery and, here, a 1960s concrete bunker watching for Armageddon.’
Text: Amy Brunskill
