Site Records

Site Name: Pendell Camp - Group 1, Brigade 15/64 AAOR for the London South GDA

TQ309524
Bletchingley Road
Merstham

Sub Brit site visit: May 1995

Originally constructed as an Anti Aircraft Command operations room in 1951, and disused in 1960. It formed part of the Pendell Army Camp which was removed to make way for the M23.

The bunker is situated adjacent to the London-bound carriageway of the M23 at junction 8 at the bottom of an embankment. The radio array can be seen from the motorway.

The site was taken over by the Home Office in the early 1960s and allocated to the Metropolitan Police as its southern war headquarters, and remained so until 1991, when it was partially stripped out. Some equipment was still in place when visited by Sub Brit members in 1995.

The bunker was sold in Autumn 2001 but nothing was done on the site and it was used for grazing gypsy horses. The bunker has now been sold again and ongoing work is now taking place.

A similar bunker is situated at the Metropolitan Police training centre at Lippetshill, Essex, which was intended for controlling the northern part of London in wartime.

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