Hollow under the hammer: Secret underground WWII bunker with rumoured major military link to auction for £165k

8 April 2024, 12:03 | Updated: 8 April 2024, 12:53

By Jasmine Moody

A forgotten subterranean concrete bunker, which dates back to World War Two, will go up for auction with the guide price of £165,000.

Foxwarren Bunker, which is rumoured to have links to the Dambusters, is being sold alongside 2.1 acres of commuter belt woodland. Although, there is no planning permission for the site.

Michael Mercer of auctioneers Strettons is handling the sale of the property.

Speaking to The Evening Standard, he said: "We don’t exactly get wartime bunkers offered to us every month. It’s definitely an unusual one."

A relic from WWII, the bunker is now explored by curious adventurers who document their findings on YouTube and other video sites dedicated to abandoned underground structures.

The shelter, located near Cobham, Surrey, is built into the woodland's bank, where its hard-to-find entrance leads to the concrete lined bunker, atypical of the usual material of corrugated iron.

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Wartime planners added a vertical escape shaft near the end but this is now inaccessible due to a broken ladder and a tree root.

It is suggested that the Foxwarren Bunker has direct links to the Dambusters operation, codenamed Operation 'Chastise'.

In 1943, Wing Commander Guy Gibson led the RAF 617 squadron on a bombing raid to destroy three dams in Germany's industrial heartland - the Ruhr valley.

The attack resulted in catastrophic flooding that diminished Nazi steel, coal and armaments production.

Mr Mercer said: "It's hard to say" whether this unusual property will be sold and added: "We'd always advise any client to do their own research regarding planning, but it’s worth noting that this is green belt land".

This site had been put up for sale for £300,000 in 2023 but no buyer was found.

Strettons have recently sold land near the bunker and they say they have seen "keen" interest in the plot.

"It's hard to put a value on something like this, but that’s the good thing about an auction," Mr Mercer added.

The site will be renovated on April 18.