During WW2 the then Southern Railway took over Deepdene House, near Dorking, Surrey. To the rear of the house were some natural caves; there were turned into a series of rooms (with multiple entrances) that formed an underground control centre.
The railway left the house in the 1960s, and the rather beautiful house was unfortunately demolished on 1969. There is now a really ugly modern office block on the site, the head quarters of Kuoni travel.
Some kids caused a fire just inside the tunnels in the mid-90s, and it's very dusty inside, and highly contaminated with blue and white asbestos. I used a half-face mask and disposable suit. Despite that there's some beer cans and a little grafitti inside.
For more details and a map of the rooms see.
There are plenty of remains including steps, dragon's teeth and even part of a car. For those and loads more photos see my gallery here.
Dragon's teeth
The switchboard.
Strange widget with coils in it near the switchboard.
Lamp shade near the switchboard.
The main distribution frame (MDF)
View down R2 to the ventilation equipment and emergency exit.
Ventilation equipment.
The emergency exit up a 60 foot shaft.
Some charred paneling.
View from R2 into R3 and the telephone exchange; note the ventilation ducting on the right wall and the door on the floor on the left
Battery terminals; Westinghouse is printed on the ceramic.
View from R14 into R9 and R13.
The control room
Old style BS 546 plug socket
View into R3, entrance to R7 on right
Main fusebox.
Light switch.
Looking from R13 into R10
Looking from R12 into R13. Panels on the floor seem to be asbestos.
Wooden panel that looks like it would have mounted coat hooks.
View from R7 into R3.
View down R14 from R10.
View from R7 into R8.
View from R2 to the MDF and switchboard.
Bulb socket in R8.
The railway left the house in the 1960s, and the rather beautiful house was unfortunately demolished on 1969. There is now a really ugly modern office block on the site, the head quarters of Kuoni travel.
Some kids caused a fire just inside the tunnels in the mid-90s, and it's very dusty inside, and highly contaminated with blue and white asbestos. I used a half-face mask and disposable suit. Despite that there's some beer cans and a little grafitti inside.
For more details and a map of the rooms see.
There are plenty of remains including steps, dragon's teeth and even part of a car. For those and loads more photos see my gallery here.
Dragon's teeth
The switchboard.
Strange widget with coils in it near the switchboard.
Lamp shade near the switchboard.
The main distribution frame (MDF)
View down R2 to the ventilation equipment and emergency exit.
Ventilation equipment.
The emergency exit up a 60 foot shaft.
Some charred paneling.
View from R2 into R3 and the telephone exchange; note the ventilation ducting on the right wall and the door on the floor on the left
Battery terminals; Westinghouse is printed on the ceramic.
View from R14 into R9 and R13.
The control room
Old style BS 546 plug socket
View into R3, entrance to R7 on right
Main fusebox.
Light switch.
Looking from R13 into R10
Looking from R12 into R13. Panels on the floor seem to be asbestos.
Wooden panel that looks like it would have mounted coat hooks.
View from R7 into R3.
View down R14 from R10.
View from R7 into R8.
View from R2 to the MDF and switchboard.
Bulb socket in R8.
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