Fairlight ROC Post

[John]

One of many underground 'Cold War' bunkers built across the country for use by the Royal Observer Corps, Fairlight was opened in December 1960 and finally closed in September 1991. Sited in a compound at the Coastguard Station (at the end of Coastguard Lane), the hatch has been welded shut to deter vandalism and trophy-hunters. During its operational life, the ROC also made use of the Coastguard watchtower nearby.

[Chris in 1066]

Nuclear Hidden Underground Bunker

1975 October 25 - The Hastings Observer published a description of the “hidden underground bunker at Fairlight, built in the late 1950s, which is equipped to monitor the horrific effects of a nuclear explosion”. The Royal Observer Corps bunker, measuring just 14 feet by eight feet, was six feet underground, and was located to seaward of the Fairlight Coastguard lookout tower. If a nuclear warhead were dropped in the area, three members of a ten-strong group of volunteers would secure themselves inside the bunker and monitor the effects of the blast. The bunker still exists, a few feet in front of the radar scanner, marked by two small concrete blocks, one being on top of the entrance shaft.

from 'The Hastings Chronicle'