07/07/2025
Birmingham Civil Defence Bunker.
In 1954, a heavily protected nuclear bunker was constructed in Edgbaston, a quiet suburb of Birmingham. It was a single-storey, concrete structure big enough to accommodate up to 80 people. The bunker was buried under a grass bank at the rear of an Edwardian mansion.
If the Soviet Union had launched a nuclear attack, the bunker would have been used by Civil Defence officials to direct emergency services - assuming there was anything left to direct. The bunker had its own power and water supply. It was also built with special filters against poison gas and nuclear fallout.
Despite moments of high tension during the Cold War, the world was spared the devastation of a nuclear war. And so the bunker at 8 Meadow Road was never used for anything other than training Civil Defence volunteers and storage in anticipation of a nuclear attack. But in 1956, the bunker did play a part in another aspect of the Cold War when, for several weeks, it housed Hungarian refugees who had fled the failed Uprising.
In April 1990, the Edwardian mansion at was put up for sale by Sandwell Metropolitan Council on behalf of the West Midlands Fire and Civil Defence Authority. Included in the asking price was the nuclear bunker.
The sale generated a great deal of media interest. It was reported on by ‘Sky Television’ and in numerous newspaper articles. It was the first major nuclear bunker to be put on sale, although considered to be just an adjunct of the Edwardian mansion.
In one local newspaper article, a former neighbour claimed she was surprised when she found out where the bunker had been built. It was well known locally that just uphill from site, there was a large water reservoir. If the reservoir had been damaged, the bunker would have been flooded.
The mansion, along with the bunker, was sold to a firm of structural engineers. A condition of the sale stipulated that the bunker must be demolished by 2003 if there was no nuclear war. The mansion was used for offices, but as
the structural engineering firm did not have a specific use for the bunker, it became just a storage area.
In 2009, the bunker had still not been demolished. It would not be a simple matter - how do you effectively demolish a structure that was built to withstand a nuclear attack?
The bunker remains dilapidated and full of rubbish.
Information from whatliesbeneath
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https://youtu.be/ydYiOmbXCbY?si=g-jWbJlNikW-hkA3
