Cold War nuclear bunker in original condition on sale for £25,000

The bunker was built in 1959

Saman Javed
Monday 07 November 2022 01:19 EST
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A nuclear bunker built during the Cold War and still in its original condition is up for sale for £25,000.

The historical building, which is also a Royal Observer post, was built in 1959. It is located in Louth, a town in east Lincolnshire.

The property has a starting price of £25,000 but will be sold at an auction event on 24 November.

SDL Property, the auction house selling the bunker, said it is still in its original state apart from some deterioration on the hatch.

The hatch opens to reveal a steep 14ft ladder, which leads into a base measuring 15 by 8 square ft.

Once used by the Ministry of Defence, it was designed to house people for a maximum period of 14 days.

The bunker provided “protective accommodation for three observers to survive a nuclear attack,” SDL Property said.

“They were expected to report on the nuclear bursts and report on the fall out of a nuclear attack.

(SDL Property Auctions)

“They were provided with enough food and water for fourteen days and had a land line and radio communications available to them.”

Many of the sites used during the war were decommissioned and sold in 1993, and are now mostly used by telecom companies for mobile phone masts.

The bunker’s previous owner, Mark Colledge, buying the property online for £12,500 in 2003.

Explaining his reasons for purchasing the bunker, Colledge told Mail Online: “It was built the year I was born, and I think I bought it due to a bit of a midlife crisis. I thought ‘that’s cool’ and decided I wanted it.

“I keep a caravan close by and have been using it as a kind of holiday home. I sleep in the bunker, and shower in the caravan.”

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