Burlington

Central Government War Headquarters

Useful Information

Location:	Corsham. (51.4310, -2.1858)
Open:	closed. [2026]
Fee:	closed. [2026]
Classification:	Secret Bunker
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Burlington Bunker, Corsham, England, SN13 9EU
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1950s	bunker built.
2004	decommissioned and declassified.

Description

The bunker with the code name Burlington located below Corsham is also called the Central Government War Headquarters. It is the place where the British government would have retreated to in the event of a Cold War-era nuclear strike. It contains office spaces, cafeterias, a telephone exchange, medical facilities and sleeping quarters. It was designed to house some 4,000 people which would be self-sufficient for three months. That’s quite exceptional, most such bunkers were designed for only four weeks. This one also had the full infrastructure for the government continuing its work. Located 30 m below the surface it was built into a former underground limestone quarry of some size, so the bunker had more than 60 km of tunnels.

This listing is actually a preparation for a future opening to the public. The site was partly used as a wine cellar, after the Cold War there were several attempts to sell it. Part of the structure is scheduled a monument relating to Cold War history. A number of underground murals painted by Olga Lehmann are Grade II* listed. Other parts were put on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register. There were various uses in discussion, like a massive underground data center or the biggest wine cellar in Europe. Numerous websites published reports, some journalists were actually able to visit the site. And so we were convinced there would at least develop a tourist site, showing the most interesting parts of the bunker, but this never happened. So we decided to mark this listing as closed. Check the BBC page below for a gallery.