Churchill War Rooms

For those with any interest in the Second World War, and Britain’s involvement in it, the Churchill War Rooms should not be missed. Located beneath the Treasury at the southeast corner of St. James’ Park, this underground complex was the nerve centre from which the war effort was orchestrated by Winston Churchill. All the furniture and equipment has been left exactly as it was in August 1945 at the war’s end, and the result is an astonishing time-capsule insight into what it was like to live and work with the hopes of a nation and a continent resting on their shoulders.

Leading from Below

Foreseeing the outbreak of war, construction on the War Rooms began in 1938, and they were made fully operational shortly before Germany’s invasion of Poland. After Churchill’s appointment as Prime Minister, he visited the complex in May 1940 and declared: “This is the room from which I will direct the war”.

A Man and his Plan

As you dip beneath the massive layer of concrete known as “The Slab”, you discover that the Churchill War Rooms actually consists of two separate museums. The Cabinet War Rooms, whose centrepiece is the fascinating Map Room, detail the strategic and tactical exploits of the war room as a whole. This is where Churchill held no less than 115 cabinet meetings, hammering out the details of Allied offensives across Europe. The Churchill Museum unpicks the life and works of the great man himself, from his early childhood to his state funeral. Particularly interesting is the large collection of passionately devoted letters he wrote to his wife Clementine, exposing the softer side of this famously tough statesman.