The bunker was apparently built in a quarry pit on the hill in 1952 for use with the ROTOR radar defence system, a massive undertaking which saw the construction of many bunkers all over the UK, with the goal of giving early warning of any approaching soviet bombers. The bunker at Barnton is one of the largest, known as an R4 bunker. Incidentally, the 'Secret Bunker' at Saint Andrews was also a ROTOR R4 bunker before becoming a museum. The bunker itself comprises of 3 underground levels, with a one storey surface building.
The ROTOR system apparently became obsolete remarkably quickly, as the advances in jet engines meant the soviet bombers would arrive too quickly for the early warnings provided to be effective. As a result the system was scrapped and in the early 60's the bunker at Barnton was converted to a Regional Seat of Government (RSG). The RSGs were supposed to be where the machinery of government could safely escape the fall out of nuclear war, and to get government officials spread across the country, preferably away from London. The Edinburgh bunker became the Scottish national head quarters. The site had a telephone exchange and BBC broadcasting studio so that the government could attempt to continue running the country. Yet again however the bunker became obsolete, the development of the Hydrogen bomb meant that none of the RSGs were strong enough to withstand the blast.
The site was kept a secret until 1963, when a group of anti-war campaigners called “Spies for Peace” broke into an RSG bunker in Warren Row and stole documents listing the locations of all the RSGs, they then went on to publish them in the national press. This caused a big public outcry at the time, given how much money the government were spending to protect themselves in the event of war, and how little they were spending to protect the public and the press naturally loved the story. Despite this there is a lot of anecdotal evidence on the web that people in Edinburgh where aware of the bunker's existence before this, the locals having seen the heavy stream of RAF staff and vehicles going up the hill. Apparently CND had picketed the site before the Spies for Peace document was ever published.
The bunker was then purchased by the council in 1984, although for what use I can't find, but as a result the site no longer had crown immunity from rates. The council couldn't afford the upkeep and apparently sold the bunker to a Glasgow developer for £55,000 in 1987. It was then put up for sale again in 1992, but before anyone managed to buy it vandals broke in and set it on fire. More recently there was proposals to install a water tank in it its place to improve the water supply in Edinburgh, but I believe these plans did not go ahead. The site is now heavily contaminated with asbestos, so I didn't try to get in, nor would I encourage anyone else to try. The whole site is heavily sealed off.
The site is very easy to find. Its pretty incredible that a major piece of cold war history sits in Edinburgh, and hardly anyone seems to know about it. There isn't nearly as much urban exploration resources about Edinburgh as there is for Glasgow online. I only found out about the Scotland Street tunnel today, despite having had a flat not 10 minutes from there
This is a map of the location and plans for the bottom floor. This comes from the original sales brochure when the bunker was put up for sale in '92. Unfortunately I can't get the rest of it, I only managed to get this after digging up a dead site on the wayback when machine (http://www.archive.org/web/web.php).
Bunker exterior
Rear of the bunker, you can clearly see the sides of the quarry in which this bunker was built
Bunker roof
The shots below were not taken by me, I've provided details were they were available.
A shot of the kitchen
These interior shots are from the website urbexplore.com
This shot will be amusing to Edinburgh locals, that YMD spray painted on the wall is the signature of the local 'young team'
This is some of the hardware used for the telephone exchange. You can see this room on the plans.
This was the soundproof room used for BBC broadcasts. You can see this on the plans too.
These shots are from a posting on the 28dayslater.co.uk site
