RAF Fauld, High Explosives Tunnels, Staffordshire - May 2013

[edlnd]

RAF Fauld was a Royal Air Force underground munitions storage depot located 2.0 miles (3.2 km) south west of Tutbury, Staffordshire and 10.44 miles (16.80 km) north east of Rugeley, Staffordshire, England and the site was controlled by No. 21 Maintenance Unit RAF which stored munitions underground.

On Monday, 27 November 1944 between 3,500 and 4,000 tonnes of ordnance exploded — mostly comprising high explosive (HE)-filled bombs, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 metres (400 ft) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of Hanbury Hill in Staffordshire, England. A nearby reservoir containing 450,000 cubic metres of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete farm. Flooding caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.
The exact death toll is uncertain; it appears that about 70 people died in the explosion.

The depot was used until 1966 when the site was closed however in late 1966 when France withdrew from NATO's integrated military structure the site was briefly used between 1967 and 1973.

 

[HughieD]

Amazing place, wonderful pictures...

 

[Derelict-UK]

Oh my, that's nuts!!

 

[chris]

Superb

 

[Harry]

... jackpot!

 

[perjury saint]

Crackin pix!! Looks ACE this does!!

 

[shatners]

Facinating stuff mate... just found the crater on Google Maps... its about a quarter of a mile wide!

 

[zender126]

Wow!
I didnt think I'd ever see a report of this place, well done!

The locals (quite rightly) treat this site and the area around it as a war grave as many workers in the tunnels and civilians above were killed in the explosion. It is said to be one of the largest non-nuclear explosion the world has ever seen

 

[dmundy01]

Cracking shots

 

[godzilla73]

Thanks for these. Architecturally, this is quite like Farleigh Down Sidings (guess it must be contemporary to it?) but the bonus here is that there isn't acres of graffiti to spoil it! Great Stuff.

 

[flyboys90]

Superb photos,thanks for sharing.

 

[oldscrote]

Thanks for the photos,been fascinated by this place for years.

Have had this photo showing the crater on file for a couple of years



this one shows the crater and extent of surrounding damage at the time

 

[night crawler]

They are some wicked tunnels there and a great set of pictures you took. That s one big hole scrote

 

[Derelict-UK]

Is this the one where the hole is still littered with unexploded bombs?

If so, I would hope any newbie explorers who might get ideas about going here to be VERY careful where you put your foot!!

 

[Labb]

What a find. Really nice pictures.

 

[The Wombat]

very nice, thanks for sharing

 

[edlnd]

Is this the one where the hole is still littered with unexploded bombs?

If so, I would hope any newbie explorers who might get ideas about going here to be VERY careful where you put your foot!!

It is indeed. Care needs to be taken here - not that access is easily found, months of research was undertaken to find any kind of aboveground structures, and they were all dead ends.

 

[leftorium]

there's purportedly about 3000 tons of unexploded munitions still underground or within the crater, the exact figure is unknown as no one knows how much went up.

The fact that always amazes me was that more people died above than below ground (the highest toll at a nearby gypsum works when the settlement beds ruptured) and there were plenty of survivors who were underground at the time as the galleried nature of the site meant that not all of the bomb stores were affected.

 

[krela]

Once the shock wave is free of the ground, it can travel unhindered through the air, hence so many more casualties above ground than below where the earth absorbs it quickly.

 

[sennelager66]

And as was shown from WW1 mines undermining trenches - many would be killed from shock wave damage. Internal tissue damage to the lungs and brain being primary causes.

Cracking report.