Inside the abandoned Cold War nuclear bunker in Bristol where new homes are planned

It’s one of Bristol’s best-kept secrets but a Grade II-listed Cold War nuclear bunker is back in the news as a new housing development is planned alongside it.

The tucked away building is located at Flowers Hill in Brislington, close to the retail park.

Matthew Williams is an urban explorer who spends his time discovering unique hidden sites across the country.

In October 2019 he took a trip to Bristol from his home in Wiltshire to explore the Grade II-listed Bristol War Rooms, off Flowers Hill in Brislington, close to the retail park.

The two-storey concrete-walled site was built in 1953 to ‘co-ordinate civil defence’ in the event of an atomic attack, and to protect regional government.

Mr Williams, aged 50, said: “We had to go at night because the bunker is on the site of government offices and is not open to the public.

“The door to the war rooms had been left open so we took the opportunity to explore the site whilst we could.”

Mr Williams found the site to be in surprisingly good condition - the bunker may have been built almost 70 years ago but the urban explorer said that there was little damage to the site.

Areas such as the large control room to lines of desks where telephone operators remain and offer an extraordinary insight into a Cold War era when it was feared the UK could come under attack.

And Mr Williams’ footage backs up a listing by Historic England which describe the site as a ‘rare survival of a purpose-built war room’ which is ‘remarkably intact and has been little altered since built’.

“It is one of the best examples of a war room I have ever seen,” Mr Williams said.

“You truly step back in time when you walk in the bunker - it is like no time has changed at all.

“Everything has been kept the same from the electricity to the plumbing and even the paint on the walls.”

His footage captures the entrance, the building’s circular corridors, control cabins and offices. At the centre of the bunker is a two-storey map room with plexiglass windows offering views in from rooms around it.

However, the Bristol War Rooms, thought to have closed down in the early 1960s and then used for storage by Avon County Council, may soon be given a new use.

The bunker is situated on the same site as the old Brislington office complex which contained the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Brislington Driving Test Centre.

Both of these have been relocated with plans submitted in 2020 for the site to be transformed.

Mr Williams has called for the Bristol War Rooms to become a museum as he feels the history encapsulated inside is valuable and needs to be preserved.

“It is so important that the war time history is kept safe,” he said.

“The bunker is unique in many ways and if it is lost they will be flushing heritage down the drain.

“The only other comparable site in England is the Battle of Britain bunker in London which is a museum.

“I really feel that if local people saw what a gem it is inside they would not wish for it to be gutted and changed.”

The Bristol War Rooms contain other unique historical pieces such as a document lift, a 1950s generator and maps, according to Mr Williams.

It was designed to fit around 50 people, and also includes toilets, dormitories and a canteen.

“It is truly like being inside a war film when you’re there,” he said.

“Very little has been damaged and it takes you back in time.”

Matthew’s YouTube channel named The Secret Vault two years features his urban explorations and has 40,000 subscribers.

The video of the Bristol War Rooms that he shot has had over 9,000 views - it can be watched in full here.