The Regional General Headquarters located in Chilmark, Wiltshire, it dates back to the early 1980’s when the Home Office initiated plans to replace the Sub-Regional Control bunkers in the southwest region.
When they built the bunker a hillside was excavated down to the bedrock and a plateau was formed to create the foundations of the bunker. A concrete box with two foot thick reinforced walls formed; once the construction was completed, the excavated earth was backfilled over the bunker to a minimum depth of ten feet. After the bunker was buried, there was little evidence above ground other than a series of prominent ventilation stacks on the hilltop above the bunker, and a pair of inclined entrance shafts into the hillside. The bunker was laid out so that the lower floor is dedicated to office accommodation and operational areas. and the upper floor, which is marginally less well protected against blast and heat, contains the headquarters’ dormitories and welfare facilities.
With the collapse of the Soviet union in 1992, RGHQ Chilmark was wound down and put into care and maintenance, being operational for only a small number of years.
Until a few years ago some may have seen it appear on the news, after a gang kitted it out to a weed farm where all 20 rooms were involved in the manufacture of the class B drug. Still signs of a massive operation taking place in there.
Maintenance entrance to generator/stores
Fire escape route
Substation shed entrance.
Kitchen area and canteen.
The bathroom left by the gang, show signs they were living down there.
When they built the bunker a hillside was excavated down to the bedrock and a plateau was formed to create the foundations of the bunker. A concrete box with two foot thick reinforced walls formed; once the construction was completed, the excavated earth was backfilled over the bunker to a minimum depth of ten feet. After the bunker was buried, there was little evidence above ground other than a series of prominent ventilation stacks on the hilltop above the bunker, and a pair of inclined entrance shafts into the hillside. The bunker was laid out so that the lower floor is dedicated to office accommodation and operational areas. and the upper floor, which is marginally less well protected against blast and heat, contains the headquarters’ dormitories and welfare facilities.
With the collapse of the Soviet union in 1992, RGHQ Chilmark was wound down and put into care and maintenance, being operational for only a small number of years.
Until a few years ago some may have seen it appear on the news, after a gang kitted it out to a weed farm where all 20 rooms were involved in the manufacture of the class B drug. Still signs of a massive operation taking place in there.
Maintenance entrance to generator/stores
Fire escape route
Substation shed entrance.
Kitchen area and canteen.
The bathroom left by the gang, show signs they were living down there.
