Kier Southern Renovates Historic Secret Wartime Tunnels Beneath Dover Castle

The ‘Operation Dynamo: Rescue from Dunkirk’ visitor experience at Dover Castle will reconstruct the drama of the Dunkirk evacuation in the same historic tunnels in which the desperate rescue operation – codenamed Operation Dynamo – was masterminded. The important army operations rooms have been recreated to look as they appeared during WWII and include the plotting tables for enemy movements and telephone exchanges.

Kier Southern recently completed the refurbishment and renovation of the historic secret wartime tunnels beneath Dover Castle to help create a major new visitor attraction for client English Heritage. The works carried out by Kier Southern included the reconfiguration of the existing entrance and exit to provide a new visitor holding area and refurbishment works to create a new visitor exhibition experience with interactive displays. In addition, the existing shop, café and toilet facilities were upgraded to make for a full and pleasant visitor experience.

Within the tunnels, a new ventilation system, designed to horseshoe around the existing wartime system, along with new electrical systems and the installation of a new mobility lift between the ground and mezzanine levels, were all part of Kier Southern’s renovation works. Redecoration and alterations were also carried out, including new floor finishes, and an existing spiral staircase was repaired and redecorated with the provision of a number of newly handcrafted stone steps.

The Dover wartime tunnels are classed as a scheduled ancient monument which meant that the revitalisation works carried out by Kier Southern could not involve making any physical impact to the existing structure.