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Report - - Seaford GPO Repeater station - Seaford - September 2017 | Underground Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Seaford GPO Repeater station - Seaford - September 2017

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Grom

Camera Drowner
Regular User
Also known as Chyngton Bunker, this is a a small bunker in Seaford.


History

'Also known as the Seaford GPO Repeater station, the bunker was built in 1942 in preparation for the re-establishment of submarine cable links to continental Europe after D-Day. Several other booster or repeater stations were built at Dover, Southbourne, Swanage and Dartmouth but it is not known if they survived.

The structure is T-shaped and buried under an earth bank, and is formed out of a long concrete-covered Nissen hut set on dwarf brick walls, subdivided by brick walls, and with a brick walled entrance section built out from it towards the road. There are also two escape shafts and the entrance extension includes a small guard room.

According to a survey by the Sussex Archaeological Society there were six rooms and they believed that “Room 1 was a guard room, Rooms 2 and 3 were for offices and stores, Room 4 was an entrance lobby with chemical toilets, Room 5 was the main equipment area and insulated/sound-proofed Room 6 was probably for an emergency generator”. Some of the soundproofing material of unknown composition still survives.

Electric lighting was provided, and cables for power and equipment were both cast into the floor and also above floor level suggesting possible phases of installation and use

The new submarine cable was the first commercial Telcothene (Telcon's name for their polythene dielectric material) insulated telephone cable, and was laid from Hope Gap, near Cuckmere to Dieppe in 1945.'


Chyngton Bunker


The Explore

Although seemingly sealed, it is actually still accessible with some effort. This is one of those high effort low reward type places, but might as well put the pictures up as I went to the effort of getting in.

There were signs of a homeless person living here, but long since gone since they gated closed the entrance.



Photos

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mw0sec

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Interesting - my ears pricked up when you mentioned Swanage (my birthplace). I was not aware of any such installation there, but the 'underground nissen hut' type of construction is remarkably similar to that shown on: http://www.mw0sec.co.uk/WW2.html although I am certain that this was as described on the page - in any case it was far back from the coast.

Les.
 
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