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Battle of Britain bunker was disguised as a garden

Historic England Archives Crop of RAF 1945 photograph showing landscape features, one camouflaging the Battle of Britain Bunker Historic England Archives
An aerial shot taken in 1945 by the RAF shows how the bunker was covered by a flowerbed

A World War Two bunker integral to the Battle of Britain was disguised as a decorative garden, according to researchers.

The bunker was designed to blend in with its surroundings in Uxbridge while concealing its critical role in co-ordinating Britain's air defence, researchers have found.

In addition to its disguise, the bunker was fortified with deep layers of earth and concrete to absorb bomb impacts.

It was on a visit to the bunker when wartime prime minister Winston Churchill declared: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

MOLA Artistic impression of the Battle of Britain bunker during wartime. Above ground, the bunker is disguised by landscaping that makes it look like a garden feature.MOLA
A new artistic impression shows the area above the bunker disguised as a decorative garden

The fresh discoveries were made during recent conservation work and repairs which enabled an archaeological investigation at the 86-year-old site, Historic England and Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) said.

Surveys reveal thick earth and concrete layers protected the bunker from aerial hits, while gun pits, pillboxes, and barbed wire defended against ground attacks.

Historic England said the military was responding to a new type of warfare, as airborne raids and the threat of German parachutists being dropped to land and advance on foot became of concern.

MOLA A dug-up area revealing a deep excavation with a WWII-era ventilation shaft emerging from the ground, surrounded by construction fencing and workers in high-visibility vests inspecting the site.MOLA
The discoveries were made during recent conservation works

The bunker was concealed under a faux decorative garden so it would appear to be part of the landscape of the nearby Hillingdon House.

A large Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament symbol scratched into a pillbox suggests later peaceful protests at the site, archaeologists found, though it’s unclear if it dates back to the RAF base's operation.

Jim McKeon, Project Manager at MOLA, said that by integrating archaeological findings, documentary sources, aerial photos, and historic maps, they have gained a clearer picture of what the bunker’s exterior looked like during WWII.

Hillingdon Council A replica of the WWII operations room inside the Battle of Britain bunker, featuring a detailed map table and a mannequin in uniform simulating the co-ordination of aircraft movements.Hillingdon Council
The bunker played an important role co-ordinating defences against the Luftwaffe

The Battle of Britain Bunker and its surrounding facilities now serve as a museum and visitor centre.

Sandy Kidd, an archaeologist at Historic England, said: "London’s archaeology goes back thousands of years, so the Battle of Britain Bunker at 86 years young is one of the most ‘modern’ sites I’ve been involved with.

"We knew that any exploration of the site would need careful understanding of Second World War military tactics and features so that nothing was missed."

He said the level of defences and concealment of the bunker shows military authorities believed it being compromised would have "spelled disaster for the country".

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