Written by Martin Dixon on 04 April 2014.
Easthampstead Park is a Grade II listed Victorian mansion on the edge of Bracknell in Berkshire. The estate started life as a Royal Hunting Lodge in 1350 but the current structure dates from 1864. During World War II the house was used as a school by around 600 boys from St Paul’s School in Hammersmith.
Postwar, the site was bought by Berkshire County Council and used as a female teacher training college. In 1966 the mansion was extended and the cellars were converted to become the Civil Defence Sub-County Control for Bracknell and East Berkshire. The County Control was at Shire Hall in Reading. In 1968, Easthampstead was upgraded to become the County Control.
By 1981 the 1974-built new Shire Hall basement took over as County Control and Easthampstead was downgraded to Berkshire County Standby and Bracknell Council Control, in which roles it continued until the end of the Cold War.
The cellars are still in use for a related purpose, being the headquarters of the South East Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue - a charity which supports the police in searching for the young, old and vulnerable.
Written by Martin Briscoe on 11 April 2024.
Reading Evening Post - Wednesday 22 December 1982
Image © Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
**Backing for plan to set up disaster relief centre **
A SCHEME to set up a disaster relief centre between Bracknell and Wokingham is supported by council policy chiefs.
And they are also backing an extensive programme of civil defence preparations over the next two years.
The moves are designed to conform to new Home Office regulations on civil defence and coincide with the November 1 appointment of an emergency planning officer for Bracknell and Wokingham. Mr Peter Lovatt.
Bracknell’s Easthampstead Park was recently chosen by the county council as the site for a stand-by emergency operations centre.
Bracknell district council’s policy resoures committee has now backed the idea. along with plans to beefen up civil defence preparations.
The council-backed defence volunteers now renamed the East Berkshire Emergency Volunteers. is to double its membership to 50 and is preparing new training schedules to conform to Home Office proposals.
Training
The duties of Bracknell and Wokingham’s new emergency planning officer. contained in a report to the district council. include:
■ Preparing war contingency plans for Bracknell and Wokingham. to cover both conventional and nuclear attack.
■ The establishment of an operations centre for war time and peace time use.
■ A survey of existing facilities and buildings for use as communal shelters.
■ Organising and training emergency volunteers to support statutory emergency services.
