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Summary

ROC underground monitoring post was set up either in 1957 or 1963 at SX55657003. Post was disbanded in 1991. Sometime after the post's closure the steel door to the entrance hatch was removed and access to the bunker was sealed. The blocked entrance hatch and a ventilation shaft are still visible however.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains of a Bronze Age enclosure and reaves, as well as a medieval farm site and Second World War transmitting station west of Leather Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE380
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1454735
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• OBSERVATION POST (Mid 20th Century - 1933 AD to 1966 AD (Between))
• UNDERGROUND MONITORING POST (Mid 20th Century - 1933 AD to 1966 AD (Between))
• BUNKER (Built, Mid 20th Century - 1957 AD to 1963 AD (Between))

Full description

Wood, K., 1976, Attack Warning Red, 285 (Monograph). SDV143823.

Referred to as 'Sharperton'.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 156881, 18/3/2000 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Royal Observer Corps (ROC) civil defence bunker on Peek Hill.
No evaluation of the Cold War civil defence bunkers is currently available and therefore it is not known whether this feature is of national importance. This civil defence bunker is included because it is thought to survive well and lies within a prehistoric field system of national importance.
No further information.

Home Office, 1992, UKWMO Monitoring Posts (Correspondence). SDV324407.

EXE 53 Sharpitor on list of UKWMO monitoring posts.

Lowry, Bernard (ed.), 1995, 20th Century Defences in Britain: An Introductory Guide, 127-28 (Monograph). SDV362273.

Wilkinson, B., 1996, RAF Sharpitor, 6-8 (Article in Serial). SDV224139.

Holmes, L. R., 1997, Exeter 10 Group Condition of Posts (Devon) Stood Down in September 1991 (Worksheet). SDV324408.

Site visited 23-11-1996 - post demolished.

Dobinson, C. S., 2000, Twentieth Century Fortifications in England Vol. XI.1 & XI.2: The Cold War, 205 (Report - non-specific). SDV324255.

Site of Royal Observer Corps ROC post. Rebased to location in June 1952 (See Wood) from SX590731 (PRN: 72346). A ground level Orlit required for the resite. Underground Orlit post by April 1953 and remained in use after that date.

Fletcher, M. J., 2007-2008, Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project (Report - Survey). SDV359195.

(07/05/2007) An underground monitoring post or bunker designed by the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) to record nuclear bomb explosions and the drift of fallout. Located in open moorland at SX 5573 6995 just off the summit of Peek Hill it lay beyond the perimeter of RAF Sharpitor (SX 56 NE 379). It was constructed in 1957 (Wilkinson, 1996) although the majority of these bunkers were built between the years 1958 and 1964 with the prototype constructed in 1956 (Lowry, 1995). It may have been operational until the ROC was abolished in 1991. It is evident as a uniform rectangular turf-covered mound, 1.2m in height with rounded corners. There is no trace of a concrete post and wire fence that often enclosed these sites. Near the southern end of the mound is the access shaft to the underground bunker. Here the original short brick stack with a steel trapdoor in the top has been removed to ground level exposing the 0.5m square concrete-lined shaft reinforced with iron rods; the top rung of the iron access ladder is visible. The shaft is now infilled and blocked by granite boulders. Near the northern end of the mound is the air vent - originally a short brick-built stack with vents in its sides. This stack has also been removed to ground level revealing the 0.3m square concrete-lined shaft complete with iron reinforcing rods; it is now infilled with stone. Both of these brick stacks were covered with a crude stone facing in an attempt to merge the features with the surroundings. Wilkinson (1996) reports that before the bunker was sealed with sand and stones it was possible to descend the access shaft into a small room that contained a table and a single bed. The description of the standard three -man ROC bunker indicates that it had two rooms; the larger, the monitoring room measured 4.6m by 2.3m. The access shaft was 4.6m deep. The measuring instruments, a survey meter and a baffle plate, extended above ground between the two short stacks but there is now no surface indication of the holes required by these instruments.
The footings of a small concrete structure located some 160m to the south of the bunker is probably an ROC Aircraft Recognition and Reporting Post (SX 56 NE 402). Many ROC underground bunkers were constructed near to these pre-existing ROC above-ground observation posts. Located on the top of a mound (SX 56 NE 186) this structure offers a superb 360 degree vista and overlooks the City of Plymouth. These posts were usually created from a pre-cast concrete factory-built structure called an Orlit Post - named after the manufacturer. It was usually a two-roomed rectangular structure - one was roofed and the other open to enable aircraft observation. The concrete brick and concrete foundations on the mound are now only partially visible being 4.5m long with parts of two short return walls but it is likely that this to was an Orlit Post. Surveyed at 1:2500 scale.

Passmore, M., 2016, Royal Air Force Sharpitor. A Gee Master Transmitting Station South Western Gee Chain. Peek Hill, Dartmoor, 3 (Report - Assessment). SDV359575.

ROC underground monitoring post was set up either in 1957 or 1963 at SX55657003. Post was disbanded in 1991. Sometime after the post's closure the steel door to the entrance hatch was removed and access to the bunker was sealed. The blocked entrance hatch and a ventilation shaft are still visible however. There is a suggestion that before the underground bunker was constructed an Orlit prefabricated-concrete surface observation post was located in the area, but no evidence to confirm this as yet.

Subterranea Britannica: Research Study Group, 2019, Subterranea Britannica (Website). SDV362978.

250 yards south east of B3212 on the south side of a rock marked path.
DEMOLISHED The post was clad in stone to blend in with the surroundings. The post was demolished for safety reasons by South West Water. The position of two adjacent compounds is clearly visible in the grass with a low raised mound marking the site of the underground post. The two back filled shafts are clearly visible protruding slightly from the ground. There is some brick rubble including some of the stone cladding. There is a metal ring in a stone which was probably an aerial guying point.
At the road there is a small car parking area bounded by a semi circle of rocks. There was a removable metal pole between two of the rocks to allow cars to drive up to the post. The pole has now gone but the padlock securing it is still in place. The path up to the post across the moor is marked by rocks on the right hand side.
Opened in 1963 and closed in 1991 (citing unknown author, 06/07/2002). Six external images of site included.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV3465 - Exeter 10 Group Condition of Posts (Devon) Stood Down in September 1991
• EDV8351 - Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project

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