A previously abandoned Second World War and Cold War bunker nestled in a hill in Edinburgh is gearing up to welcome visitors this weekend for the city’s Doors Open Days.
The three-floor Barnton Bunker, concealed in the northern section of Corstorphine Hill, was formally used as a military command centre and a back-up shelter for Queen Elizabeth II if the UK were to have come under nuclear attack.
The site was bought by an Edinburgh family in 1996 after lying derelict for ten years. The bunker is now in the process of being restored to its former glory.
Visitors will be able to access the above ground Second World War military complex, the circular tunnel entrance to the underground bunker, as well as the site’s community gardens home to goats, emus and bees.
Ben Mitchell, the 35-year-old manager of the site, began renovating the bunker in 2011. Twelve years later, he founded the charity to complete its restoration with the goal of becoming a must-see tourist attraction in the city.
His father, James Mitchell, bought Barnton Bunker along with Scotland's Secret Bunker in Fife as part of a retirement project after he sold his building company.
Mr Mitchell said: “When it came up in the papers, my dad just thought it was amazing and they were so cheap. We’re from a military family and he’s fascinated by bunkers. He saw the potential and bought it.”
Mr Mitchell said when his father bought the Corstorphine location, it had been turned into a landfill site, with dumped vehicles, tyres and thousands of skips-worth of rubble.
It had also been scarred by major fires in 1992 and 1994, which had caused significant superficial damage to some of the floors and framing.
“It took us five years just to clean the place,” Mr Mitchell said. He said the bunker was just one of four of its kind in the UK - and one of the only ones that is being restored to what it would have looked like in the 1950s.
While the project is gaining momentum, with 26 volunteers working round the clock, more funding is needed to fulfil his family’s vision for the site.
“We’ve been maintaining and sprucing the place up, but we’re getting to the bits in the restoration where we need more money,” Mr Mitchell said. “We need things like a lighting plan and a new car park, with each job costing around £100,000.”
Mr Mitchell said he hoped the Doors Open Days would help raise some money for the charity, as well as awareness of the fascinating site hidden in the heart of the city.
On Sunday, as well as a free tour of the above ground complex, visitors will be able to enjoy live music, stalls and a variety of food stalls.
There will also be four paid tours of the underground bunker on each day from 10.30am to 3.30pm.
For more information and to buy tickets, click here.
1. Barnton Bunker
The iconic tunnel entrance to the bunker is based on the same structure as the London Underground tunnels . The tunnel was built by Ministry of Defence engineers in the 1950s | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman
2. Barnton Bunker
Barnton Bunker is tucked away in the affluent Edinburgh suburbs. The above ground WW2 complex was where the RAF plotted on maps the enemy aircraft | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman
3. Barnton Bunker
This is one of the operations spaces in the bunker. In its later years, before becoming derelict, the bunker became a regional seat of government for Scotland where the country could be governed from in the event of a nuclear attack. | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman
