Cabinet War Rooms

Located off Parliament Square, at the start of King Charles Street at the base Clive Steps are the Cabinet War Rooms. Situated beneath the Government Office Building; this former storage area was adapted in 1938 as the meeting place from which many of the military commands of Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill were given during the Second World War. The site was chosen because access was only available through the building above and because its subterranean location meant it was sheltered from the bombs that rained on London. Within the war rooms were living quarters for military leaders and government officials. After the war was won, the 21 rooms were abandoned, lying largely as they were left until the site was turned into a museum in 1984. Using old photographs as a reference, the rooms have been restored to their wartime state by the Imperial War Museum. The Cabinet war Rooms give a fascinating insight into the day to day practicalities of running a war that affected the entire globe. Visitors are invited to see Churchill's desk, complete with hotline to the White House. The original communications equipment and maps from which much of the war was controlled are also as they were. Churchill's Chamber Pot and nightshirt can be seen in situ in the Prime Ministers bedroom.