Site Records

SiteName: The Rotundas

Marsham Street
London SW1
OS Grid Ref: TQ298790

Sub Brit site visit 28th June 2001

Just prior to the start of demolition the tower blocks were used as a Christmas shelter for the homeless and there was an ongoing problem with people rough sleeping in the extensive and warren like complex. At one time homeless people barricaded themselves into parts of the building with planned escape routes in order to leave when ousted by the security staff but gain access back in at a later date via unsecured doors etc. One group, after eviction, turned up at the security gate and asked for their property back which they had left behind including a microwave oven and portable TV!

Sections of wall to be retained

Once the site has been cleared a new six storey headquarters will be built for the Home Office and Prison Service. One wall of the steel freamed building is to be retained as a retaining wall as are the lower floors of the two rodundas which will be filled with concrete to provide a base for the new building. Some sections of the upper floor outer walls will also be retained as retaining walls.

By March 2003 the three towers and the steel frame building had gone although the rotunda's themselves were proving more stubborn and still remained largely intact. Eventually explosives had to be used to demliosh them. In the 1960's when the DOE towers were built there were plans to remove the rotundas then but this proved too costly so the towers were built above them. The plans to demolish and rebuild were put on hold for 6 years while various departments battles to save and reuse the rotundas but in the end it was decided they had to be demolished and soon they too will be gone and the site redeveloped; so passes, unmourned and unnoticed another chapter of history.

Site visit report by Andrew P. Smith

Thursday 28th June saw 7 members of SB visit the Rotundas and Government Citadel at Marsham Street in Central London. The trip was fully sanctioned by the Home Office and we were accompanied throughout by 2 members of Home Office staff.

We started at the Steel Frame Building which we reached by descending into the car park below the main building and walking through the plant areas to a small corridor. Passing through a safe type security door we then passed through an old fashioned blast door and into the Citadel. This was abandoned in 1996 and was still in reasonable condition. Built on 2 floors it consists of a rectangular shaped block with a central spine corridor. Almost identical on both floors in terms of layout this was our taste of things to come. Coming through the dog leg just inside the door the first room on the left is the former Naval Communication Centre and it still has its sign on the door. This room, like every other, is totally stripped although the power sockets have been left on the wall. There were 2 totally separate power circuits and those finished in red plug tops were marked 'UPS Power - smoothed'.

Walking along the corridor it was easy to see the substantial steel reinforcement work above our heads which was structural to the building but also gave added protection to the Citadel. The Citadel itself was last used during the Gulf War.

All the rooms along this corridor were empty and we entered almost every one. Some had name plaques on the door. There were male and female toilets on the right hand side mid way along.

Reaching the end of the corridor we turned right and the next room on the right contained a large wall map of the world in excellent condition. It was not possible to remove this map as it was bonded to its mount (believe me we tried).

We re-traced our steps and descended to the lower level which is much the same as the upper floor in terms of empty rooms etc. A room on this level also contained a large wall map in excellent condition. This was a large scale map of the central European and Balkans area.

We walked along this corridor to the very end where we descended a few steps into a tunnel. Mid way along this tunnel there was re-enforcing steelwork being used to support the roof where a WW2 V1 rocket had hit during the war and made a large dent in the structure.

This corridor led to one of the Rotundas but we re-traced our steps and exited back to the car park and across the surface to the South Rotunda.

Entering via a flight of steps we passed though a security door and into the Rotunda itself. Both Rotundas have 3 levels and are almost identical in layout although recent uses have been quite different.

We descended to the lower level and entered the totally intact and working plant room. This room was on care and maintenance until a few moths ago and there was a full time engineering staff of 3 who managed the equipment and kept the heat on during the use of the site as a homeless shelter. The plant room comprised of generators, boilers and air compressors and was also the home of the sewage ejector room.

Working our way around this area we also saw 'The Crescent' which is an area adjacent to the diesel tanks that illustrates the curvature of the Rotundas structure.

Working our way upstairs the remainder of the building has been used as the Civil Service sports and social club. Just about every sport from Boxing to Snooker seems to have been played here at some time. The rifle range is still intact (with targets) and there is even a snooker table left behind amidst the mess. Further along the corridor is a boxing gym and Karate Dojo and the Boxers' training room still has that certain smell about it and the walls are plastered with promoters sheets for boxing matches with the like of Frank Bruno amongst others together with newspaper cuttings of boxing stories.

The top level hosted a cinema-cum-theatre with a prop room nearby. Much of the site is strewn with rubbish and there is extensive evidence of vandalism and graffiti in this area. There are a number of kitchen areas throughout the building.

There are several bars and in one of these there was evidence of someone sleeping rough as they had left behind their blanket and beer cans. It is unknown if that person was in the building at the time of our visit but our hosts commented how the security staff were reluctant to tour the building on their own.

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