Monument record MDR12115 - Nuclear fallout shelter, north of Worksop Road, Whitwell

This site has been utilised over the past century and a half for its good vantage point. According to the Whitwell Local History Group, it was used as an observation point by the Royal Observer Corps from 1939 onwards and was manned every day during World War Two for this purpose. An underground shelter was built on the site, possibly in the 1970s, in the event of a nuclear attack. Inside the shelter are two rooms: a communal area and a w/c. (1) A total of 870 thermo-nuclear fallout shelters and observation posts were built throughout the country by the Home Office as part of a strategic defence against nuclear attack. Measuring 18ft by 10ft, the bunkers were buried 12ft underground, were built of reinforced concrete and cost £2000 each. The shelters were decommissioned in 1992 when the then Home Secretary decided they were no longer necessary. (2)