Monument record 2943 - Hack Green Regional Headquarters

<1> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1998, RAF Hack Green, Cheshire, RCHME, 1998, Wayne D Cocroft (Unpublished Report). SCH8817.

A field and building survey was undertaken, in 1998, of RAF Hack Green, Cheshire. The Hack Green Regional Head Quarters comprises a semi-sunken, heavily protected bunker. In the event of a nuclear war, it was envisaged that the central government administration of the region would be conducted from the bunker. The bunker was a re-used, earlier R6 type bunker, constructed in the early 1950s as part of the Rotor radar programme. The head quarters sits at the centre of a complex sequence of military land use, adapted since World War II to reflect changing defence needs.

<2> W.D.Cocroft, 2001, Cold War Monuments: an assessment by the Monuments Protection Programme (Report). SCH4336.

RGHQ 10.2 Hack Green is formed from an early 1950s Type 6 Rotor radar bunker, one of only four bunkers of this type in the country. During the early 1980s this bunker was substantially rebuilt to fulfil its new role. Most of the remains of the derelict radar station were cleared at this date. Its present internal configuration, although based on the original 1950s arrangement, reflects its 1980s role as a Regional Government Headquarters. Work carried out during the 1980s includes the addition of a standby generator room, remodelling of the main entrance, insertion of a mezzanine floor and new room divisions, installation of new air filtration plant and general refurbishment. The bunker is now occupied by a private Cold War museum housing one of the most important collections of Cold War artefacts in the country. The Hack Green example was being considered for listing in 2001 (1).

RGHQs were fairly evenly distributed across the country, all but one were placed in existing structures. Nonetheless, they all share common attributes that would enable them to operate for a number of months in a post-nuclear attack environment. These attributes include largely featureless, thick external walls to resist blast and heat and to reduce radiation penetration. Internally all are equipped with air filtration plant, standby generators, canteens, dormitories, operations rooms, communications facilities, and support areas. Following a national survey, comprising documentary research and fieldwork, the location and type of all 15 RGHQs in England is known, as is their present condition. Surviving examples that remain structurally intact with internal fittings are considered to be of national importance. RGHQs selected for statutory protection will be purpose-built examples, or adaptations, constructed during the 1980s that exemplify an up-to-date appreciation of designing a structure to operate in a post-nuclear attack environment and which best reflect contemporary understanding of the administrative role they were to play.