Home

Themes | Tours | By Area
Map | New | Hot

Latest News
Comments
On This Day in London
Can You Help?
Email Newsletter

Sign Up/Register
Forgot Password?
Contribute a Location

About Us
Friends
Contact Us

RSS Feeds

IN THE NEWS

BBC Media Village and White City 

I NEED A...

• London Xmas Shop
• London Betting
• London Bookshop
• London Car Hire
• London Car Parking
• London Shopping
• London Dating
• London Flats to Rent
• Flights to London
• London Flower Delivery
• London Hotel
• London Music
• London Finance
• London Restaurant
• London Theatre

Number of Locations:

LATEST TOURS

TOP TOURS

TOP TOUR GUIDES

    1. Ade  
    2. Jez  
    3. Dave Evans  
    4. Brian  
    5. Ruthl  

LONDON THEMES

Churchill's Paddock

This is Churchill's secret back up bunker, only used twice.

Location: Brook Road, Neasden, London

Description: There is a small discrete door inbetween two modern homes here that hides the main entrance to the secret concrete rooms and corridors created in the Second World War as a refuge for Churchill and the war cabinet. They called it the Paddock - a code name for this underground bunker.

This part of Neasden was home to a very secret Post Office research centre created in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

It's 14 metres underground and protected by a concrete roof 1.5 metres thick, above this was a second underground level covered with another concrete roof which was 1 metre thick.

Paddock duplicated the facilities of the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall but Churchill much preferred to be in central London and he only attended one of two cabinet meetings ever held in the Neasden bunker. He regarded it as a last resort if all else failed.

The Paddock was locked up and abandoned at the end of the war, and the post office research centre moved away in the early 1970s.

When the housing association reopened Paddock they found that it was very damp and that the lowest level was knee-deep in water. Stalactites hang from the ceilings and everything is covered in mould.

• Location
• Comments
• More

Themes: Subterranean  Military
Submitted by: Ade 
Ranking This Month: 469/2532
Pages Hit This Month: 144
Link to This Page: http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location.php?loc=1754
Credits: http://www.citiesofscience.co.uk

Churchill's Paddock This is Churchill's secret back up bunker, only used twice.

The Shady Old Lady points out that you can drag this map using mouse. Or visit our full massive map.

Got something to add? Write it 'ere:

Name:     Email:
Your email will ONLY be used once, to confirm the publication of your comments. We value your contribution and privacy.
<Put your comments here>
Anti-spam Security: Please enter this code: