Although this place has been covered numerous times previously, the reports have always been pretty decent and I have not seen a very recent post, so Carcrazy and I thought we would give it a go.
This place was surprisingly easy to find and access. It was pretty clear there had been a rave down there within the recent past although the tunnels were still full of interesting objects from old bikes, tractors, engines and lawnmowers etc. well worth a look if you’re in the area!
Sure some of you will be pleased this place is still standing!
History
Around the time of WW2 Surrey County Council commissioned the building of four deep shelters, Coulsdon Deep Shelter was the fourth and was built within the grounds of Cane Hill Asylum. After the war, the shelter was purchased by Cox, Hargreaves and Thomson, Limited who specialised in the manufacture of optical devices – mainly lenses for huge telescopes, however, the main drawback of the tunnels was the cold and damp conditions within them, this played havoc with corroding equipment and the moral of the workforce. To combat this, the company brought a refrigerator and wired it backwards so that it could act as a crude air-conditioning unit.
Cox, Hargreaves and Thomson finally left the tunnels in the early 70s and the company subsequently wound up in 1978. After this they were used as a garage for a small length of time, but abandoned again because of the same problems faced by Cox, Hargreaves and Thomson. It was the later used as a dump for old VW car parts and the tunnels were then sealed by the local council.
This place was surprisingly easy to find and access. It was pretty clear there had been a rave down there within the recent past although the tunnels were still full of interesting objects from old bikes, tractors, engines and lawnmowers etc. well worth a look if you’re in the area!
Sure some of you will be pleased this place is still standing!
History
Around the time of WW2 Surrey County Council commissioned the building of four deep shelters, Coulsdon Deep Shelter was the fourth and was built within the grounds of Cane Hill Asylum. After the war, the shelter was purchased by Cox, Hargreaves and Thomson, Limited who specialised in the manufacture of optical devices – mainly lenses for huge telescopes, however, the main drawback of the tunnels was the cold and damp conditions within them, this played havoc with corroding equipment and the moral of the workforce. To combat this, the company brought a refrigerator and wired it backwards so that it could act as a crude air-conditioning unit.
Cox, Hargreaves and Thomson finally left the tunnels in the early 70s and the company subsequently wound up in 1978. After this they were used as a garage for a small length of time, but abandoned again because of the same problems faced by Cox, Hargreaves and Thomson. It was the later used as a dump for old VW car parts and the tunnels were then sealed by the local council.
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