Dover WWII bunker which attacked ships in Channel now open to public

A Second World War plotting room beneath Dover’s White Cliffs has opened to visitors for the first time, offering a preserved glimpse of how Britain defended the Strait of Dover. Built in 1940, it directed artillery fire and formed part of coastal defences during a period when Dover was under threat from occupied France.

The Fan Bay room provided aiming information for three six-inch guns, processing target data into firing settings with an electromechanical computer. Abandoned and buried in the 1970s, it was rediscovered in 2017 and conserved with wartime graffiti, peeling paint, pipes and ducts still visible. Visitors can book National Trust tours, descend 18 steps wearing a hard hat and head torch, and see the Battery Command Post and plotting room.