Cold War Bunker

Hidden in a street in the heart of St Helier, this Jersey command centre was kept a secret from the public for years, as the world waited for news of nuclear war.

This bunker was a communications centre, passing and receiving messages to and from other bunkers around the UK and Europe. The threat of nuclear war with catastrophic loss of human life and destruction of the planet was a real danger in the years after the Second World War. To help prepare for such an event, a network of hundreds of bunkers was built throughout Britain and Europe. Messages would be sent and received from other similar bunkers in France, the UK and the other Channel Islands, giving details of radiation levels and survivors.

The Government of Jersey planned how to react in the event of a nuclear war. Essential personnel would be evacuated to this Second World War German communications bunker in Springfield, which had been transformed into a Cold War nuclear fallout bunker, equipped with blast-proof doors, emergency rations, protective clothing and radiation equipment.

From here, messages would be sent and received from other similar bunkers in France, the UK and the other Channel Islands giving details of radiation levels and survivors.

From gas masks and radiation suits to Geiger counters, maps and emergency procedures, the bunker has been frozen in time since it was abandoned when the threat had passed.  The bunker is a reminder of the impact the Cold War and the threat of a nuclear attack had on the lives of the Islanders and the rest of the world.

Jersey Heritage looks after this bunker and its contents as one of the 30 historic sites it maintains around the Island, ranging in date from the Ice Age to the Cold War and in materials from granite masonry to reinforced concrete.