The 1940s time capsule beneath Rochester

It is often said that some of the most surprising sights in this country lay hidden away behind the least likely of doors. This was never more true than the doorway that took us from a rather unremarkable suburban landscape in Rochester into an astonishing underground complex.

The site of today’s visit (with Hidden History Tours) was a complex built by Shorts Brothers underneath their factory buildings ahead of World War Two to accommodate their 11,000 workers, linked up by connecting tunnel to an underground aircraft factory! The exact location is a secret, necessitated by the destructive acts of vandals who have broken in time and again.

A reminder of the incredible contribution of the Short Brothers at Rochester

The three Shorts brothers were farsighted enough to establish Britain’s first aircraft manufacturers, initially building an aircraft factory on the Isle of Sheppey. However, the site soon proved inadequate for the construction of the seaplanes and flying boats that would come to dominate air travel in the 1920s and 1930s. A new site at Rochester was acquired in 1913 with ample space for the workshops and concrete slipways to build these leviathans of the air, utilising the Medway for take off and landing.

It is hard now to believe that Rochester was the centre of aviation innovation in the early 20th century and what amazing sights you could see on the Medway, like the Empire flying boats designed to operate cross-Tasman services. I imagine it was like having the runway at Heathrow on your doorstep given the colossal scale of the planes roaring up from the water.

On first approach it feels like there is little evidence of the vast industrial complex that once stood here, now replaced by housing, but the slipways into the water remain as a last tantalising reminder of what once took place here. Thankfully there are plenty of photos and film footage that gives us a little glimpse of that world.

Footage from the British Pathé news reel archives gives us a little hint of the wonders that graced the Medway with the first trial flight of the Canopus at Rochester (1936), the visit of the Air minister to see the Canopus (1936) and the launch of the the Aotearoa at Rochester (1939). In a similar fashion, press reports recount the visit of King George VI and the Queen in March 1939, visiting the factory, the underground air raid shelters and getting to see the latest plane take off from the Medway.

One of a few minor obstacles on the way into the tunnel complex

There were originally eight entrances into the system when it was built in 1941, including one from the company playing fields. All but one have now been blocked up.

Once you enter the complex you immediately have a series of obstacles to tackle, ranging from sewage pipes to knee high wall openings, so this is not a neatly cleared and cleaned experience but all the more fun for it. Once you have made it into through what awaits is quite special. The air raid shelters here were built to an unusually high quality, with the tunnels lined with cement and white engineering bricks, then grouted with cement. They are still in remarkably good condition today.

On our tour of this part of the complex we were able to see the stores, decontamination area, ARP rest rooms, hospital, well room and control room. Our guide from Hidden History tours was able to show us a number of contemporary photos that give you much more of a sense of how these would have functioned in wartime, bringing it all to life.

Although the fittings have largely been removed, you can still see the wooden struts for the benches that would have lined the corridors and the remains of the ventilation and electrical system. In conjunction with the factory spaces, the two parallel 300m long tunnels of the air raid shelter (with 14 connecting cross tunnels) were intended to hold the 11,000 strong workforce and it has been suggested that 6,000-7,000 of these would have been seated.

The particular highlight of this tunnel is the sheer volume of graffiti that has been drawn onto the walls in pencil by the workers. This includes the tallies from card games, noughts and crosses, depictions of planes, names of sweethearts and even a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem rudely re-worked for wartime! Armed with our torches (there is no lighting) we eagerly scoured the walls for more examples.

A wartime reworking of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem ‘Excelsior’

Our tour guide has been running tours here for 10 years but said that he was still seeing new things after all this time. On this visit it was an image of Hitler re-imagined as the devil that caught his eye.

After leaving the air raid shelters behind we followed the 400m long connecting tunnel to the much larger factory spaces. This was comprised of two 100m long tunnels connected to four 75m long tunnels that ran up to the cliff face, providing an additional 12,000 square foot of workspace. We could see one of the unlined tunnels leading into the chalk, though stepping inside is not recommended.

The factory spaces were completed to a higher standard – whereas the air raid shelters had mobile toilets with curtains for privacy, the factory space had fully kitted out toilet cubicles with porcelain and cast iron toilet fixtures.

The Shorts factory closed down in 1948 with all operations now shifted to Belfast, but the buildings remained until the 1990s.

One of many artistic pencil drawn renditions of aircraft in the tunnels

In the years since then it has acquired a degree of fame among the urbex community and not troubled the headlines, except for an incident in 2010 when four youths found themselves lost in the tunnel system while a fire broke out in the Blaw Knox archives stored in the factory tunnels (the charred debris of papers and microfiche from that fire still coats the floor in some sections of the tunnels). Firefighters had to break through a breeze block wall to rescue them on that occasion.

It’s a fascinating complex to visit but one that really needs the expertise of a knowledgeable guide to make sense of. I’ve been on a few tunnel tours in my time but rarely encountered someone armed with the depth of knowledge of our guide from Hidden History tours.

I am extremely grateful to a work colleague who hails from the area for alerting me to this wonderful company and their excellent tours. Take my word for it, this is one place you don’t want to miss.

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