Summary
A room contained within a former Bath Stone quarry, latterly adapted to an underground government facility: Central Government War Headquarters (CGWHQ). The room contains the terminus of a Lamson pneumatic tube communication system.
Reasons for Designation
The Lamson Terminus Room, and associated fan room, in the CGWHQ, below MoD Corsham, is designated as a Scheduled Monument for the following principal reason:
* Period: the peril from the threat of nuclear strike that Britain faced during the Cold War is inherent in the need to install this facility to transfer important documentation efficiently around the headquarters.
* Rarity: this is the only known Lamson system of its kind.
* Survival: the system is complete and in situ, retaining its impressive receiving and delivery tubes fixed with racking, with tube covers intact, and adjacent room with intact fans.
* Group value: the CGWHQ site is an unparalleled example of our national Cold War defence heritage, and represents the systematic use of expansive underground areas by industry and the military during the C20.
* Representative: the sober fitting out of the Bath Stone chamber is redolent of the grim character of Cold War installations and the functional nature of the area.
History
The Corsham Mines are a multi-layered historic site near Bath, beneath the southern end of the Cotswold Hills in Wiltshire. Quarrying of Bath Stone in the wider area took place from Roman times, and by the C18 Bath Stone had become a highly sought after building material. The opening of the Kennet and Avon canal in 1810, and the subsequent construction of the Great Western Railway in the 1840s, made the transportation of the stone to farther locations easier and cheaper, thereby increasing its popularity. Brunel's cutting of the Box Railway Tunnel, beside the village of Corsham, revealed a rich seam of high quality stone beneath the hills. Intense quarrying followed, leaving a network of quarries with worked-out chambers and air shafts, including Spring Quarry. By the time mining ceased in 1940, there were over 60 miles of tunnels across 3,000 acres, located at depths between 80 and 100 feet below ground.
The Bristol Aeroplane Company (BAC) at Filton, near Bristol was bombed in September 1940. In response, Lord Beaverbrook, of the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP), issued an urgent plan to relocate all production below ground, which was endorsed by Churchill. The limitations of time, suitable sites, and wartime resources quickly saw the scheme scaled back to the relocation of Filton's engine plant. In December 1940 four quarries were requisitioned by the Ministry, including Spring Quarry, to the south of the Box Tunnel. It covers a vast 3,300,000 square foot area (or 76 acres). It was intended that BAC would convert Spring Quarry for engine production in 6 months, at an estimated cost of £100,000.
However, the scale of the Ministry's factory construction project was enormous, involving the removal of thousands of tons of rubble stone, the levelling of floors, and the strengthening of pillars and roofs using steel and concrete. Lifts, escalators, and an extensive ventilation system were installed. Furthermore, BAC became doubtful about the practicality of the project, and their involvement was scaled back. The factory was not ready for use by the end of 1942, when German bombing had largely ceased, and the need for the underground factory programme had all but vanished. The MAP factory was reclassified as a shadow factory, and proposed production was switched from the Hercules engine to the less vital Centaurus. By 1945, the factory was still incomplete to its original specifications, and its cost had risen to many millions. Engine production figures throughout the war were negligible, and the factory closed at the end of the war. MAP itself was abolished in 1946. Spring Quarry was bought by the government in 1954, when the north-east area was allocated for conversion to a secret CGWHQ for use in the event of nuclear conflict.
The first known planning for the dispersed operation of government departments should Central London be destroyed through enemy attack, was during a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence under Sir Warren Fisher in 1937. Following the war, it was acknowledged that developments in weapons meant that the government's emergency plans were inadequate. In the light of the huge sums spent developing the MAP factory in Spring Quarry, estimated at £30 million, the Treasury proposed buying the requisitioned quarry for use as a citadel for future emergencies. However, the quarry was not bought from the Bath & Portland Stone Company until April 1954, along with 100 acres of land above ground. In 1957 the plans for the emergency headquarters were finalised; the site was intended to provide a safe haven from which the work of Government could continue. From here, the reconstruction of the country following a nuclear attack would be overseen. It was designed to accommodate up to 4,000 military and government staff, including the Prime Minister and key cabinet officials. Occupants would be sealed underground for 30 days and coordinate with Regional Seats of Government around the country, meaning that extensive communications and welfare infrastructure was needed.
Work began in 1957 with the construction of a reinforced concrete wall separating the CGWHQ area from that part of Spring Quarry used by the Admiralty. A buffer zone between the two was lined by a concrete block partition and solid rock pillars, sealing the Central Government side. Three blast doors were installed. New ventilation shafts were created and reinforced. Internal areas were divided by concrete block or, in some cases, with red brick. The northern parts of the main roadway through Spring Quarry (now called East/West Main Road) were converted to a large telephone exchange, stores and plant rooms. Those to the south were offices and accommodation for the Government departments and War Cabinet, a communication centre, and an extensive canteen and kitchen facility. Most of the major building works were complete by April 1959.
By 1961 the Lamson pneumatic tube system had been installed. The first pneumatic tube system was invented by William Murdoch (1754-1839), who was previously associated with developing steam engine technology. The system was first developed in the late C18, using compressed air to propel cash or documentation through a pipe to a recipient. The Lamson Engineering Company Limited was founded in London in 1937 from earlier companies created by William Stickney Lamson, who had been developing systems to move cash around shops in the United States since the late C19. The company stopped trading under this name in 1976, but has continued to produce pneumatic tube systems under a number of other names and ownerships since. Internal communications in CGWHQ were also provided by a Public Address System located elsewhere in the site. The Lamson tube system has remained unused, although presumably it was tested, since its installation.
The CGWHQ complex was never needed or used for its intended function, and was reduced in capacity over a number of phases during the late C20. The site was de-commissioned in the early 1990s. It was de-classified in 2004.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: a room containing a Lamson terminus station. The station stands against the north wall of the room. Steel pneumatic tubes rise from the Lamson station, cross the Bath Stone roof, continuing through the concrete block, south wall via embrasures. The walls are of Bath Stone and coursed concrete block, with some red brick infill. The floor and roof are solid Bath Stone. The floor has been levelled. The area to the west of the Lamson station is a store area. The neighbouring fan room to the south-west contains the attached equipment to drive the Lamson system, and is included in the designated area.
DESCRIPTION: an irregular rectangle on plan, this room is approximately 14m wide and 7m deep. The room is accessed from the main route through Spring Quarry, Main Road, via three concrete steps with steel railings. It has a plain timber door marked with lettering of its Area and Room Numbers (15 over 9a). Above the door is a square ventilation opening with embrasures to either side for the pneumatic tubes to pass through. Opposite the door is the Lamson terminus station. 24 vertical, pneumatic receiving tubes stand above a timber plinth or desk. Each vertical tube is set side by side, and painted with numbers and the locations of the 24 recipients (Room numbers below Area numbers). The lower part of each tube is sealed with a removable cover for the insertion of message capsules. Behind the row of receiving tubes are 24 vertical, pneumatic delivery tubes, positioned in line with the gaps between the receiving tubes in front of them. The receiving tubes incorporate a steel frame that is bolted to the rear wall of the room. A curved steel chute descends from each of the receiving tubes, terminating in front of, and below the delivery tubes. The chutes have a disc at the end, and are termination points for the receipt of capsules from other system users.
All above ground structures are excluded from the scheduling. The scheduled area includes a 1m margin on all sides as well as above and below.
