Trains to York Cold War Bunker

About York Cold War Bunker

The York Cold War Bunker is a two-storey underground bunker, built in 1961 to monitor the effects of nuclear bomb blasts and track their fallout patterns across Yorkshire. Between 1961 and 1991, it was used by the Royal Observer Corps' No. 20 Group YORK, as one of a network of 30 monitoring stations around the UK, and would have housed about 60 scientists and volunteer observers. In the event of a nuclear war, the information gathered about fallout patterns would have been used to give warnings to the general public.

This is the only such Cold War facility to have been preserved in its operational condition, and visitors today can take a guided tour of the Bunker to view the retro-futuristic Perspex maps, the then state-of-the-art 1980s computers, and the radio and landline communications equipment.

Visitors can also view the decontamination room and the 'Standby for the new Stone Age' art exhibition, and climb nearby Clifford's Tower for spectacular views of the historic city of York. Few sites open to the public can provide such a powerful sense of a terrifying moment in history that seems so near, and yet so far away.