A former Cold War bunker on the Shire Hall site in Cambridge is being used to store archaeological finds from the County.

Not only is it good to see these treasures being found a home but is another small example of the Council thinking in different ways – turning the sword into the plough, you might say.

Our Historic Environment Team have converted part of the Council’s former Cold War bunker to store metalwork, fragile and regularly used archaeological finds and archives.

I’m really looking forward to the sneak peak I will be getting tomorrow, especially as I suggested the new use for the bunker when I heard it was empty and knew we were looking for a better place for our artefacts.

The public will also get a chance to look at the bunker and the contents as part of the University of Cambridge’s Open Cambridge weekend on the 7 and 8 September.

Sometimes councils can have a bunker mentality. I am really pleased that Cambridgeshire County Council has innovative thinkers and we have been doing our best to cut through red tape and bureaucracy. Which is where councillors can play a major role in helping bring fresh ideas or in this case a better use for a bunker that will benefit the County.

The Archaeological finds will now be better preserved and more accessible thanks to this innovative County Council project.

The work has been funded by the Council’s BUPA (Better Utilisation of Property Assets) Programme, which improves the effective and efficient use of the County Council’s buildings.

Other rooms in the bunker are being used to store archive and local studies materials, legal and registration records.