Gravesend Civil Defence Sub-Divisional Control Centre

MATERIALS:

18-inch (46cm) thick reinforced concrete set beneath a turf-covered bank.

EXTERIOR:

The control centre is located on the east side of Woodlands Park, off Wrotham Road. The bunker is rectangular in plan, 65ft (20m) by 45ft (14m), aligned north-south. The main entrance is located at the southern end of the building and is reached down a two-flight concrete staircase. This is protected with a metal door at the top of the second flight, which has a pre-fabricated concrete canopy. The main door at the foot of the stair provides access to the bunker at a right-angle to the stair. The stair has brick revetments and is protected by later metal security railings. There is an emergency exit at the north end of the building exiting into the park. Both sunken entrances would originally have had wire enclosures supported on concrete posts. The only other features visible above ground are the three concrete ventilation intakes and the generator exhaust outlet set on the western side of the mound, a tank for liquid waste at the foot of the western slope and a lamp post just to the north-east which functioned as a radio mast.

INTERIOR:

The main entrance with its steel reinforced door gives onto a spine corridor running north-south. The 14 rooms, separated by a mixture of brick and studwork walls, are divided into three functional areas, domestic, communications and control, set parallel to the corridor. To the west of the corridor are the power room and most of the domestic rooms. Listed from the south these comprise the power and ventilation room (this is missing the emergency generator but retains the functioning ventilation plant), women’s dormitory, ladies' toilets, men’s toilets and one of the three male dormitories (the other two are located along the north wall of the bunker). On the east side of the corridor are the communications rooms. These comprise, again taken from the south, a waiting room, messenger’s room, message room which retains its fitted timber telephonist’s furniture, and liaison officer’s room. Behind these rooms is the control section comprising, at the south, the sub-divisional control room with a timber partitioned kitchenette in the south-west corner, a small Controller’s office with glazed timber partitions, and the District Control Room.

The interior retains other original fittings including doors, communications hatches, light switches, ventilation ducts, toilet fittings and some of the hanging-signs in the spine corridor. Modern lighting, floor coverings and some fire-doors have been introduced.