Dover WWII bunker which attacked ships in Channel now open to public

A rediscovered Second World War plotting room has opened to the public for the first time.

The Fan Bay Plotting Room, built in 1940, was hidden beneath the White Cliffs of Dover and used to direct guns defending the Strait of Dover on Britain’s front line.

Following its rediscovery in 2017, the National Trust has helped uncover its deep history and will now be opening the site to visitors from Friday.

In a statement announcing the news, National Trust’s Senior Community, Participation & Volunteer lead for the Kent & East Sussex Landscapes, Jon Barker, said opening the bunker to the public is "very special".

He said: "There’s something very special about standing in a place that has changed so little since the people who worked here left.

"Rather than recreate the past, we’ve carefully conserved the plotting room so visitors can experience it much as we found it, with all the marks of its history still visible.

"It’s a rare opportunity to discover a completely different side of the white cliffs, and a fitting tribute to everyone who has helped bring this remarkable place back into public view."

The plotting rooms were home to some of the country's most advanced military technology, including the fire direction table, used to calculate firing data and coordinate artillery operations.

The Fan Bay plotting room provided aiming information for the three Fan Bay six-inch guns.

Target data was relayed from the Fortress Command at South Foreland and was processed into precise direction and elevation settings for the guns using an electromechanical computer.

During the war, Dover became known as part of "Hellfire Corner", as it endured shelling attacks from occupied France some 21 miles away.

The cliffs and its hidden defences, including the plotting rooms, became part of a national priority to strengthen Britain’s coastal protection.

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Long after the war, in the 1970s, the secret site was abandoned and buried under soil.

The rooms are open to visitors as they were discovered nine years ago, with wartime graffiti, peeling paint on the walls and visible pipes and ducts.

Volunteers who researched Fan Bay and helped open the plotting rooms to the public have also uncovered the personal stories of those who served at the site.

Gordon Wise, a White Cliffs of Dover volunteer, said of the discovery: "A name in a service record, or a detail in a photograph, helps connect the surviving marks on the walls with someone’s working day.

"There are still questions to answer, but each discovery helps us build a clearer picture of the people behind the machinery."

He added that the research has "changed how he sees the room".

Tours of the historical site can now be booked on the National Trust website.

Visitors will put on a hard hat and head torch and descend the 18 steps of the main access shaft, much as the soldiers did 80 years ago.

You will then make your way past the Battery Command Post, through the heavy steel security doors and enter the main plotting room.