Barnton Quarry is a disused stone

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

Corstorphine Hill Corstorphine Hill is a low ridge-shaped hill rising above the western suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. Although there has been residential and commercial development on its lower slopes, especially in the south and west, most of the hill is occu ...

Clermiston Clermiston is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland, to the west of the city and to the immediate north of Corstorphine, on the western slopes of Corstorphine Hill. Clermiston estate, built in 1954, was part of a major 1950s house-building programme ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The site was later used as a military command centre, and is now being converted into a museum. Stone was extracted from the quarry until 1914. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) built a

Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, oft ...

operations room in the quarry. In 1952, during the Cold War, this facility was expanded into a central coordination facility for radar stations throughout Scotland. The military authorities closed the site and in 1983 and transferred ownership to the local council. The site was subsequently vandalised and damaged by fire. The site is now being cleaned and restored with the goal of creating a local Cold War museum and education centre. The project is being undertaken by volunteers, with funding from the owners of Scotland's Secret Bunker, a disused bunker near Anstruther which is now run as a tourist attraction.

History

Barnton Quarry produced stone until 1914. then in 1942 was used as an RAF fighter command operations room. A bunker was built in 1952 as the SOC (Sector Operations Centre) for correlating information from

ROTOR Rotor may refer to: Science and technology Engineering * Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator *Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...

radar stations throughout Scotland. The bunker comprises three underground levels and a large surface building which predates the underground structure. The site was re-designated as a Regional Seat of Government in the early 1960s. The bunker was kept ready to accommodate 400 politicians and civil servants for up to 30 days. It remained operational until the early 1980s. Ownership was transferred to Lothian Regional Council in 1983. The Council sold the site in the late 1980s to a private property developer. The underground structure was damaged by fire in August 1991 and again in May 1993. The site was purchased by James Mitchell, owner of Scotland's Secret Bunker. Since 2011, a team of volunteers has helped with renovation efforts. The aim is to create a museum and education centre with a view to restoring the R4 bunker to the original 1952 configuration. In June 2021

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

designated the site as Category-A listed.

References

External links

Barnton Quarry Restoration Project

* ttp://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst8554.html Barnton Quarry described within the Gazetteer for Scotland of the Royal Scottish Geographic Society
Barnton Quarry in the Scots at War directory

Barnton Quarry Nuclear Bunker at Atlas Obscura
{{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1952 Subterranea of the United Kingdom Quarries in Scotland Buildings and structures in Edinburgh 1952 establishments in Scotland United Kingdom nuclear command and control Emergency management in the United Kingdom

History

See also

References

External links