About Sub Brit / RSG

Formed in 1974, Subterranea Britannica is a society devoted the the study and investigation of man-made and man-used underground places. Cold War related material is covered separately here: COLD WAR -Bunkers etc. Subterranea Britannica brings together people with an interest in all types of underground space - from deneholes to dug-outs and from souterrains to subways - see the sites pages. Indeed, as the list shows, there are at least seventy categories of underground excavations that are of particular interest to our members

Because of the great deal of interest in the Cold War, a separate area has been developed, specifically devoted to the study of structures related to the COLD WAR -Bunkers etc, indeed this area now contains information and photo's covering thousands of UK sites!

Additionally RSG hosts the On-Line Survey of the UK's ROC and UKWMO Monitoring Posts including over 1566 sites!

Most people, however, confine their interest to just one or two specific areas of research and investigation. As a result, there are among our many members experts in particular types of underground structure, such as COLD WAR -Bunkers etc & WWII military sites, ice houses and limestone quarries.

There are some areas of underground study that are so specialised and complex, coal mines and other types of working mine for example, that they are better covered by specialist professional mining and engineering societies. Consequently, Subterranea Britannica tends to devote its energies more in the direction of older, smaller and more neglected underground features.

Subterranea Britannica is recognised as an authoritative body within this specialist area of industrial archaeology and research. As such, it enjoys links to similar organisations and societies both in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. These bodies include: The Council for British Archaeology; The National Association for Mining History Organisations; Société Française d'Étude des Souterrains, France; Arbeitskreis für Erdstallforschung, Germany; Société Belge de Recherche et d'Étude des Souterrains, Belgium; and Studiegroep Orderaadse Kalkensteengroeven (SOK), The Netherlands.

The society publishes its magazine SUBTERRANEA three times a year which is distributed free to members. Two conferences are held each year, usually in London and Cambridge. In addition, field trips to visit interesting underground sites are arranged during the year in various parts of the UK and Europe. Being a responsible organisation, all underground excursions are conducted within strict safety guidelines and always in conjunction with the owners or authorities responsible for the site.

Back copies of SUBTERRANEA will be available for purchase soon ....

The organisation encourages the publication of any research and has access to extensive information files as well as a library of relevant books and journals.

The organisation publishes its accounts and other official documents here.