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The Jericho Project
March 2006
 
The Jericho Community Project
 

An action group has been set up to protect the underground complex near Drakelow, which is feared, could be utilised to house disadvantaged youngsters for re-training. Locals are worried about this plan bringing in "problematic" youths - ex-offenders and drug mis-users, and spoiling the natural beauty of the area. Drakelow Tunnels are considered to be an asset to our historic past, and they preserve a small part of local history.

They lie beneath the picturesque Kingsford Country Park. Built in World War II as an underground factory this massive underground tunnel complex was later a nuclear bunker. The tunnels cover 285,000 square feet.

The Drakelow underground complex was first built as a `shadow factory' by the Ministry of Aircraft Production. Construction and installation work lasted from 1941 to 1943. The thinking was that if Austin / Rover's factory at Longbridge, which also made aero engines, were targeted, then production could be moved to this underground site instead. Part of the site was used by the RAF for storage.

 

During the 1950s the site was used by the Ministry of Supply for storage. In about 1958 part of the site was developed by the Home Office as a Regional Seat of Government. The site was modernised in the early 1980s. In about 1990 there was a plan to move the RGHQ to a much smaller bunker, formerly used by UKWMO, at Lawford Heath near Rugby. This never happened and so the Drakelow site was sold in 1993. The site is now in private ownership. The development company Jericho have submitted plans to re-open the tunnels.

See the campaign website for the Drakelow Preservation Trust >>>
 

The Drakelow Project

The Drakelow site is located to the north of Kidderminster in the West Midlands and houses a subterranean complex. The complex was dug out during world war 2 to accommodate a shadow factory producing Bristol Hercules aero engines. Between 1958 and 1980 the tunnel complex was used to house the Regional Seat of Government in the event of nuclear strike during the cold war.
 
 
With the site now decommissioned and in private ownership an opportunity has come about to restore this facility and surrounding landscape. Jerich's proposal for the Drakelow site puts sustainable communities goals into action by developing a unique training campus combining practical training skills for disadvantaged people within an environment in balance with the existing ecology. The tunnel entrances are enclosed in a lightweight translucent canopy which provides living accommodation, training facilities, and offices arranged over three levels.
 
 
The existing tunnels provide storage and workshop facilities. Course participants will combine basic training with practical hands on outdoor activities aimed at ensuring the overall complex will have minimal impact on surrounding ecological systems. Ecologically benign strategies have been designed for the landscape. Water harvesting and recycling, organic food production, biomass energy generation and aquaculture will help develop an holistic eco-system for Drakelow which will reduce, toward zero, the need for external inputs.
 
Have YOUR Say - what do you think about the tunnels? Are they worth preserving or are a few people being sentimental over some dark, damp and dingy caves?Have YOUR Say here.
 
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