During the frightful days of the Cold War, the United Kingdom was on the front line of a nuclear holocaust in the case of the Cold War getting hot. The United Kingdom feared a nuclear attack and so built an emergency government war headquarters that was to serve as the country's alternative seat of power.

Over in the United States, the same thing was happening. It is now known that the emergency fallout shelter for the Members of Congress was a massive bunker under The Greenbrier - that one can visit today.

The Background and Size Of The Burington Bunker

The Urban Explorer says of the Burington Bunker:

"Under the Corsham Cotswalds approximately eighty feet below ground beneath RAF Corsham, lies the UK’s largest underground bunker and for sixty years one of the best kept secrets in modern MOD history. Burlington bunker."

The Central Government War Headquarters (or Burington Bunker) covered an area of 35 acres or 14 hectares and was 120 feet or 37 meters underground. It is located in Corsham in England in a former Bath stone quarry (called Spring Quarry).

  • Largest: It Is the UK's Largest (Known) Underground Bunker
  • Code Name: Burlington

The site predates the Cold War and dates from the Second World War. During the war in 1940, the Minister of Aircraft Production acquired it and used it as an underground engine factory.

  • WWII: Was Used As Underground Engine Factory

It was built as the British government's Plan B in the late 1950s. It was where the British government would attempt to survive the worst-case scenario of nuclear bombs raining down on London. It was made to be a veritable underground city and was bomb-proof, radiation-proof, and poison-gas-proof.

  • Outdated: The Cuban Missile Crisis Showed That The Bunker Was Outdated

Unfortunately for the British but right after it was built, it was outdated. With the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, it was realized that the site was vulnerable to intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting it. The British soon came up with other plans (like PYTHON) where they dispersed their emergency government centers to places like submarines, castles, and even car ferries.

Related: You Can Now Visit The Churchill War Rooms, A Secret Meeting Space During WWII

Facilities of The Burlington Bunker

It was built to be able to house up to 4,000 government personnel in the event of a nuclear strike. It was much more than just a bunker, this was a massive complex over a mile long and had some 60 miles of underground roads.

  • Capacity: Up To 4,000 Government Personnel
  • Accommodate: It Was Designed To Accommodate The Prime Minister, the Entire Cabinet Office, Civil Servants, and Domestic Support Staff
  • Endurance: It Could Sustain The Government For Up To 3 Months In Complete Isolation
  • Roads: 60 Miles of Underground Roads

It was designed to be fully self-sufficient and be able to sustain the government for at least 3 months in complete isolation.

It had all the facilities needed to be fully self-contained including laundries, offices, a hospital, cafeterias, kitchens, the largest phone exchange in Britain, a TV studio (where the surviving government could make public addresses), hospitals, and more.

  • Uncovered: It Was Uncovered In 1982 By Journalist Duncan Campbell in His Book War Plan UK
  • Commissioned: In 1955 (After Approval by Prime Minister Anthony Eden)
  • Operational: For 30 Years

In the event of evacuation to the bunker, the Prime Minister was planned to have remained at Downing Street in London until the last moment before being transported there by helicopter.

There were "special accommodation" suites in Area 17. These were larger rooms and had private bathroom facilities (a luxury in a survival bunker). It is thought these suites were intended for the Royal Family.

Related: An Entire 'Escape' Tunnel System Still Exists Under Berlin, With Decades Of History Behind Its Creation

The Burington Wine Cellar Today

In 1989 part of the sprawling complex was sold to Octavian Wines to use as storage for wines that need a consistent temperature and humidity level. In 2012 there were some 12 million bottles of wine down there worth over £1 billion (well over $1 billion).

  • Wine Cellar: Today The Burlington Bunker Is Used As A Wine Cellar

Oddly enough part of the unused complex that was not being used to store bottles of wine was taken over by the Ministry of Defence and kept on standby.

The rest of the site was decommissioned in 2005.

Instead of sheltering the British Prime Minister, it seems that the Birchington Bunker was destined to shelter bottles of wine.

Today parts of the Burington Bunker have scheduled monuments of the Cold War - including the Prime Minister's Rooms and Operations Rooms. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem they are open to the public now, perhaps they will be in the future.

People who are worried about surviving some impending Apocalyse today can rent out luxury survival shelters in South Dakota at Vivos xPoint (and there are other locations around the world too).

Next: Berlin Was Once Home To A Maze Of Over 1,000 Bunkers, And Many Are Open To The Public Today