It's a unique historical English property that could be perfect for a doomsday prepper. In fact, it was built to survive a nuclear blast.
A Cold War era bunker's going up for auction later this month in the Bristol area in western England with a low starting bid of 20,000 pounds (NZ$45,675).
The entrance sat amid what looked like blackberry brambles on a hillside in the village of Hallen overlooking farm fields and the mouth of the River Severn. But don’t expect a view from the underground chamber.
The bunker was one of about 1500 shelters built across the UK for the Royal Observer Corps, a civil defence organisation, to safely monitor blast waves and fallout from nuclear attacks that never came.
Most now sit empty, although they occasionally come up for resale since they were decommissioned and sold to the public in the 1990s.
Last year, a bunker listed for a minimum of 15,000 pounds (NZ$34,256) sold at auction for 48,000 pounds (NZ$109,622) in Yorkshire Dales National Park in northern England. The buyers later submitted plans to turn it into a tourist attraction.
From the outside, the relics were more eyesore than architectural wonder – just a couple of steps and a block of concrete with a chain securing the entrance. On the inside, there’s also not much to look at.
The writers of the promotional materials had to dig deep to put some polish on the drab, cramped and isolated quarters.
"Ideal for those with a unique taste for historical relics and rare investment opportunities," said the listing by David Plaister Ltd. Auctions.
A floor plan showed Room One – the only room – and described it as a "discreetly integrated underground room, perfect as a private wine cellar, safe room, or secure utility area".
It was a spartan space of 11.8 square metres with peeling paint, a stained floor, some shelving, a small desk-like surface against the wall, two plastic chairs and a single metal bed frame with no mattress.
There was a tiny hallway where a ladder descended from the hatch above and a tiny space marked as a water closet that photos reveal to contain a crude chemical toilet.
The property last sold in 1995 for 95,000 pounds (NZ$216,966), but that included the land where the owner lives, said Sophie Thorne who is coordinating the September 25 auction.
The bunker is being divided from the larger property and will be sold separately. The owner, who is staying put, has never had to hunker down in the bunker.
"It’s just kind of part of the property that she bought," Thorne said. "She had no particular need for it, which is good."
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