Art not Bombs
A trip into the English countryside reveals a surprising use for the reconfigured spaces of Britain's military infrastructure.
In the Wiltshire countryside there is a stretch of farmland that looks pretty much like every other acre of land in the area. But first impressions are soon unsettled.
This particular patch of farmland is near the village of West Dean and up until a few years ago it had an altogether more sinister purpose. The...
more »Art not Bombs
A trip into the English countryside reveals a surprising use for the reconfigured spaces of Britain's military infrastructure.
In the Wiltshire countryside there is a stretch of farmland that looks pretty much like every other acre of land in the area. But first impressions are soon unsettled.
This particular patch of farmland is near the village of West Dean and up until a few years ago it had an altogether more sinister purpose. The reason for this is that since the 1940s the area had been known as Dean Hill Royal Naval Armaments Depot. Construction started in 1938 in the build up to WW2 following a government requisition of almost 500 acres of the surrounding farm land. Irish miners along with Scottish fitters had carved a series of caverns into the chalk hillside and the work was completed by 1941.
A total of 24 bunkers, or magazines, were excavated into the hillside and over the years a number of subsidiary buildings and laboratories were incorporated into the site.
The depot served as a weapons store for the Royal Navy and munitions were held at Dean Hill before being transported by rail to Portsmouth. The site was renamed as Defence Munitions Dean Hill and weapons were stored for all of the armed forces. Dean Hill continued to play an important military role throughout the 1990s. During the first Gulf war the depot was one of the key storage and maintenance facilities for the notorious Paveway laser guided 'smart' bombs used in many Western air strikes over Iraq.
Following demilitarisation of the facility in 2004 the underground bunkers are now used for an entirely different purpose. Art works rather than armaments are now stored in the chalk caverns.
Works of art from private collectors and some of the country's most prestigious art institutions including the Tate and the British Museum are now stored in the underground chalk caves.
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