It was once one of Cold War Britain’s best-kept secrets.
But now you can take a look inside the ‘top secret’ bunker that the government has been preparing for nuclear war.
For the first time ever, incredible 3D scans reveal the interior of the Nottingham War Rooms.
Built between 1952 and 1953, the chambers protected one of 11 regional government seats that would have controlled the surviving population in the event of an atomic explosion.
Inside you can still see the original dormitories, kitchens and offices built to house up to 400 government officials.
This eerie footage, taken by Nottingham Trent University, even shows the BBC broadcast room that would be used to communicate with outside survivors.
To see more of this long-hidden structure for yourself, click on ‘The War Rooms’ below to take the virtual tour.
In the 1950s, the British government became increasingly concerned about the threat of nuclear attack on British cities.
It was decided that, if Britain were to survive an attack, places would have to be built to protect and house what was left of the government.
Dr. Daniel Cordle, an expert on nuclear history, told MailOnline: ‘If the government ceased to exist, the country would, in a sense, have ceased to exist.
‘The idea was to maintain some continuity, but the extent to which there would have been any possibility of recovery is obviously very much open to debate.’
These concerns culminated in the construction of the Nottingham War Rooms between 1952 and 1953.
This underground bunker is designed to protect approximately 50 government officials from a direct nuclear explosion.
If this were to happen, staff would remain hidden underground and liaise with central government in London.
“But by the end of the decade, after the invention of the hydrogen bomb and with many more nuclear weapons in the world, it was thought that contact with the central government might be lost for a while, or that the central government might cease to exist . ‘ says Dr Cordle.
For the first time, you can use 3D scans to look around the nuclear bunker where Britain planned a nuclear war. The Nottingham War Rooms (pictured) were built to house the 400 officials who would have absolute power over the surviving population in the event of an attack
Therefore, in 1962 the War Rooms were expanded to become one of eleven regional seats of government from which a regional commissioner would have had absolute power to govern the surviving population.
Controversially, these regional commissioners would have the power of life and death over the survivors and could call for the summary execution of anyone deemed a threat.
The original War Rooms were massively expanded into a huge building that could accommodate over 400 personnel.
In this interactive tour you can see that the building consists of a larger above-ground concrete structure and a series of deeper bunker spaces.
The above-ground sections were only intended to protect the people inside from nuclear impacts, as the government hoped that the secrecy of the location would prevent it from becoming a direct target.
However, the site’s existence was revealed to the public in 1963 when the group ‘Spies for Peace’ published a pamphlet containing the telephone numbers of all regional seats of government (RSG).
It is believed that the site was decommissioned sometime around 1967 and has lain virtually untouched since then.
This makes it a unique time capsule of Cold War Britain and a look at the government’s plans for nuclear war.
The facility was built in 1953 and expanded in 1963 to house one of the 11 regional seats of government. It included everything the staff needed to survive, including dormitories, an infirmary (pictured) and a kitchen
Dr. Cordle says: ‘Most rooms have inventories attached to the walls showing what, and in some cases who, would have been there, so you can get a sense of where the different government departments would have been and how they would have been there . functioned.’
If you look around the virtual tour, you will see that many rooms in the bunker are still completely the same as they were back then.
Inside the bunker you will see dormitories for both men and women, filled with bunk beds and broken chairs.
The people who slept in these rooms would have been given everything they needed to survive – but it would not have been a comfortable existence.
The cramped corridors and cramped spaces included a kitchen, sick bay and storage areas in addition to large rooms from which the government would have operated.
In the kitchen, the original 1960s fridge still retains its sales guarantee, while the toilets are stocked with toilet rolls stamped ‘Government Property’ on each sheet.
On the ground floor you will find the original pneumatic exchange room from which a huge Lamson Tube system would have shuffled messages through the bunker via compressed air.
One of the strangest surviving parts of the bunker is the purpose-built BBC recording studio.
One of the strangest features is the purpose-built BBC recording studio (pictured), which would be used to broadcast information to the surviving population outside the bunker.
This ‘Emergency Broadcasting Facility’ was built completely with sound-dampening acoustic panels and an adjacent control room.
From here, the surviving members of the government would have broadcast vital information to all civilians outside the bunker.
And in the mechanical heart of the RSG you can see the original generator and switch rooms that would have generated the power to provide clean air and light to the survivors.
But even with all these preparations, it is not clear whether the bunker could realistically have survived a nuclear attack.
Dr. Cordle says: ‘Nuclear war – especially in the context of the global thermonuclear war envisioned during the Cold War, and even in the case of a limited nuclear war – would have been absolutely catastrophic.
“The idea that a civilized society could survive this is questionable at best.”
Interestingly, during your virtual tour you may also spot a few modern items that point to the bunker’s more modern use.
In 1967 the site was briefly taken over by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (now DEFRA) and was used as a coordination point during the foot and mouth disease outbreak.
The bunker was built to enable the government to continue operating even after the total collapse of society. It included everything that could possibly be needed, from telecommunications systems (left) to enough bunk beds (right) to house 400 people
Among the original artifacts you’ll find abandoned signs and bits of paperwork.
One pantry is even filled to the brim with boxes marked “urgent” veterinary samples, next to piles of jeans.
But after lying unused for decades, the War Rooms have now been bought by property developer Hamilton Russell, who facilitated the 3D scans together with Nottingham Trent University.
The War Rooms will now be converted into a community and commercial space, including a recording studio in the former BBC emergency broadcast room.