A nuclear bunker buried under a hill has sold under the hammer for £36,000 – wacky, Renaissance-style interiors included.
The property in a Peak District field in Derbyshire fetched more than double its £15,000 guide price, with dozens of bidders from across the UK battling it out on auction day.
The previous owners certainly got creative with the decor, which includes wall-to-wall velvet curtains, fluffy rugs, and ornate gilded mirrors. A log burner next to the bed is on hand to provide heat if you’re hiding out from World War 3 during cold winter months.
Wondering where the bathroom is? There isn’t one, so if you were hoping for a soothing nighttime bath (or even just a trip to a plumbed-in loo), think again.
However, in case of emergency, there is an unused chemical toilet that’s still in its box. Just imagine you’re camping or living it up at a festival, and you’ll be fine.
The bunker sold with relics of the Cold War still inside, including binoculars, a red hotline phone, and an asbestos fire blanket.
Billed as a living piece of history, the bunker was one of about 1,500 listening posts built by the Royal Observer Corps nationwide in case of a nuclear attack.
Given enough food and water for two weeks, soldiers had access to both a landline and radio communications so they could report should a fallout take place.
In 1993, most of these bunkers were decommissioned and sold off, with many purchased by telecom companies for use as mobile phone masts.
Naturally, the listing gathered considerable interest online – and even made it to the SpottedonRightmove Reddit thread, where many drew attention to its wild interiors.
For @Beginning-Meringue4u, it was ‘a bit on the nose’ to have a ‘framed picture of a mushroom cloud on the wall’ – a sentiment @birdstrike_hazard agreed with, who argued that though they weren’t ‘sure what art’ they’d have in their own nuclear bunker, they were ‘pretty sure it wouldn’t be that.’
Meanwhile, @SnooSuggestions9830 joked that it’d be ‘perfect for werewolves who want a safe space to transform,’ as @Practical-Parking804 suggested it would make ‘an interesting escape room scenario.’
‘The map shows it’s within walking distance of a burger joint. Just right for a post-apocalyptic snack,’ @llsluggo added.
However, there was some interest, as @ClayDenton noted that it could be ‘cheaper than building your own’ and believed that it wasn’t a ‘bad buy.’
‘Words cannot express how much I want this,’ @Wrong_Duty7043 wrote, while @Lego-Panda-21 said that they did ‘fancy it’ but labelled the lack of proper bathroom facilities ‘a shame.’
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