Ive been wanting to go here after seeing tommos amazing report on it and finally got the chance this was the icing on the cake to a really amazing weekend,
went with ot,urban junkie,petzl,thanks dan for the tour and thanks lads for a really good weekend,
very good company,really good conversation,booze and kfc made this a top notch weekend.
really sorry about picture quality if a mod thinks they are crap i understand the bin but thought id show this place as it really interets me.
info took off subbrit
The estate was requisitioned on the outbreak of war for military use. A series of parallel tunnels were dug under the front of the club house of the same construction and design of that used for the Whitehall tunnel previously mentioned.
When complete this was occupied by the signals to be followed by GHQ Home Forces itself which occupied the club house and many of the surrounding houses and other properties.
In due course GHQ Home Forces became GHQ 21st Army Group which returned to St. Paul's School by which time (1943) Wentworth had become HQ SHAEF (Rear). Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force was the overall allied command for the invasion of Europe consisting mainly of British, Canadian and US forces and other allies. The main headquarters was at HMS Dryad at Southwick Park on Portsdown Hill (Portsmouth) and Wentworth was the rear (support and admin) headquarters. Following the successful occupation of Europe, SHAEF rear joined SHAEF HQ in Europe thus leaving the Wentworth bunker empty.
Files in the Public Record Office indicate the bunker was constructed in anticipation of a devastating bombardment and resulting evacuation of London. Its location is just south of Wentworth House (now the club house for the golf course) and consists of twin segmental cast iron tubes, taken from London Transport stock, about 100 metres long, separated by a smaller diameter access tunnel. The latter connects to a ramp and stairs up to the surface adjacent to Wentworth House; from here a covered walkway was constructed to give access into the bunker from inside the house, this was built of brick to match the brick of the house.
At the other end of the bunker there is a similar ramp and stairs up to an emergency exit blockhouse at the edge of Wentworth Drive, the access road to the house. The whole bunker is protected on the surface by a massive bombproof 'burster' slab with a brick ventilation tower with a cowl protruding. In the tunnels below the air was drawn through under floor channels with vertical riser ducts in the central partition walls in each room to a grill high in the wall. The under floor channels are joined under the plant room.
At the end of the war Wentworth House was handed back to the golf club and the military use of the tunnels ceased. It is unclear if the golf club ever used the tunnels although post war lighting has at some time been installed. By the 1970's both entrances had been sealed by the Golf Club although the entrance on Wentworth Drive has been sporadically open since then despite attempts by the Golf Club to prevent access and graffiti over many of the walls indicate the tunnels have been visited over a long period by local children and other explorers.
The burster slab above the bunker is now used as a car park and all evidence of the ventilation tower has been removed. The covered walkway linking the main entrance into the bunker has been demolished and the entrance into the tunnels has been securely sealed with brick and concrete. The entrance on Wentworth Drive is also currently sealed and the club vigorously oppose any request for access although they did open the bunker for the press in 1987.
went with ot,urban junkie,petzl,thanks dan for the tour and thanks lads for a really good weekend,
very good company,really good conversation,booze and kfc made this a top notch weekend.
really sorry about picture quality if a mod thinks they are crap i understand the bin but thought id show this place as it really interets me.
info took off subbrit
The estate was requisitioned on the outbreak of war for military use. A series of parallel tunnels were dug under the front of the club house of the same construction and design of that used for the Whitehall tunnel previously mentioned.
When complete this was occupied by the signals to be followed by GHQ Home Forces itself which occupied the club house and many of the surrounding houses and other properties.
In due course GHQ Home Forces became GHQ 21st Army Group which returned to St. Paul's School by which time (1943) Wentworth had become HQ SHAEF (Rear). Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force was the overall allied command for the invasion of Europe consisting mainly of British, Canadian and US forces and other allies. The main headquarters was at HMS Dryad at Southwick Park on Portsdown Hill (Portsmouth) and Wentworth was the rear (support and admin) headquarters. Following the successful occupation of Europe, SHAEF rear joined SHAEF HQ in Europe thus leaving the Wentworth bunker empty.
Files in the Public Record Office indicate the bunker was constructed in anticipation of a devastating bombardment and resulting evacuation of London. Its location is just south of Wentworth House (now the club house for the golf course) and consists of twin segmental cast iron tubes, taken from London Transport stock, about 100 metres long, separated by a smaller diameter access tunnel. The latter connects to a ramp and stairs up to the surface adjacent to Wentworth House; from here a covered walkway was constructed to give access into the bunker from inside the house, this was built of brick to match the brick of the house.
At the other end of the bunker there is a similar ramp and stairs up to an emergency exit blockhouse at the edge of Wentworth Drive, the access road to the house. The whole bunker is protected on the surface by a massive bombproof 'burster' slab with a brick ventilation tower with a cowl protruding. In the tunnels below the air was drawn through under floor channels with vertical riser ducts in the central partition walls in each room to a grill high in the wall. The under floor channels are joined under the plant room.
At the end of the war Wentworth House was handed back to the golf club and the military use of the tunnels ceased. It is unclear if the golf club ever used the tunnels although post war lighting has at some time been installed. By the 1970's both entrances had been sealed by the Golf Club although the entrance on Wentworth Drive has been sporadically open since then despite attempts by the Golf Club to prevent access and graffiti over many of the walls indicate the tunnels have been visited over a long period by local children and other explorers.
The burster slab above the bunker is now used as a car park and all evidence of the ventilation tower has been removed. The covered walkway linking the main entrance into the bunker has been demolished and the entrance into the tunnels has been securely sealed with brick and concrete. The entrance on Wentworth Drive is also currently sealed and the club vigorously oppose any request for access although they did open the bunker for the press in 1987.
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