The iconic White Cliffs of Dover in Kent are famous for stunning cliff top walks and coastal views all the way to France, but did you know you can also venture inside the cliffs to explore a fascinating piece of war time history?
Today, the National Trust managed White Cliffs are a destination for walkers, photographers and wildlife spotters, but during in World War Two they were Britain’s frontline.
A network of tunnels and gun emplacements was built to launch attacks on German ships moving through the Channel and to give shelter to soldiers from enemy shelling and aerial bombardment. Part of this network has been restored and is welcoming visitors: Fan Bay Deep Shelter.
Today, you can pull on a hard hat, switch on your headtorch and join a guide on a tour of the shelter. This is much more than just a walk-through of the old tunnels. Our guide brought the shelter to life with stories how the soldiers lived and worked , from daily life details – think toilets and graffiti- to the fate of the tunnels after the war.
Fan Bay Deep Shelter Tour
First things first; you need to get to the shelter entrance. Obviously, this place was built for strategy and not convenience, so there’s no direct access. We parked at the National Trust Visitor Centre and walked along to Fan Bay. It’s a straight forward, well signed route of just over a mile with gorgeous White Cliff and sea views as you go.
The Visitor Centre is a convenient start point as it has a cafe, water refill and toilets. Take advantage of this before setting out- there’s no facilities of any sort on the trail or at the shelter.
The Tour
The tour begins at the gun emplacement. It’s a good place to start: the emplacement gives you an idea of what was installed here, while a map on the wall showing the range of German batteries highlights why the shelter you’re about to explore was so necessary.
After a quick safety brief and the opportunity to explore the emplacement and storage rooms, it’s time to descend the 125 steps that take you down into the White Cliffs of Dover.
The steps are set in three flights in the original concrete and steel structure that the soldiers would have used to access the shelter. It doesn’t take long to leave the doorway and the daylight behind you, to not be able to hear the outside world and it swiftly becomes noticeably cooler and increasingly damp.
The first part of the tour involves hearing about conditions for the soldiers for whom it was built. I think that can be summed by saying conditions were far from optimal.
Part of the reason for this could be that the Fan Bay Battery was dug out in just five months. Ground works began in October 1940 and work was more or less complete by February of 1941, thanks to the joint effort of a civil engineering company, local contractors and the Royal Engineers. Team work makes the dream work.
I’m not going to give too much away about the first part of the tour, but I will share a few highlights:
- Exploring the tunnel section used as an emergency hospital and turning our head torches off to experience the blackout conditions.
- Walking along the accommodation tunnels that were lined with bunk beds to see exactly where troop slept when off duty
- Finding fossils in the chalk tunnel roof, including a complete clam shell
- Seeing graffiti and soldier’s names marked on the walls of the tunnel
- Discovering that building and managing the shelter required some creative touches. For example, the walls were coated with cork to help manage the damp and the hand rail on the stairs doubles up as a water pipe.
A huge shout out to the volunteers who run the tours, their knowledge of and affection for the Fan Bay Deep Shelter is clear to see. Our guide was a born story teller, he wove the story of these tunnels and the soldiers who worked in them beautifully.
The World War One Sound Mirrors
Part of the tour involves emerging from the tunnels onto the cliffside to experience the sound mirrors.
During the First World War, Britain experience aerial bombardment for the first time. The curved concrete sound mirrors were the new line of defense. They worked by concentrating the sounds of incoming aircraft and reflecting into a funnel shaped collector. Specially trained operators listened to the sounds to estimate an aircrafts height and direction.
The sound mirrors helped to protect the communities of Dover and Folkestone area but their time was short. By the 1930s, radar had replaced them. Now they stand as slightly eerie, cliffside relics.
The National Trust has installed a perfectly-placed platform that allows you to experience the sound mirrors for yourself. Stand on the spot, call something out and you’ll hear it oddly magnified and bounced back to you. It’s difficult to describe, but an interesting thing to do.
I got stage fright standing in front of the rest of our tour group and shouted “Hello!” because that’s what everyone else did. Looking back, I wish I’d been a bit bolder and shouted something more original.
If you visit, let me know what your sound mirror call was!
Tickets & Pricing for the Fan Bay Deep Shelter Tour
The Fan Bay Deep Shelter Tour is free to National Trust members, just show your membership card at the shelter entrance. For non members, the tour cost £15 adult / £7 child.
The tour is child friendly, with child sized hard hats and torches available, but a minimum age of 8 is advised.
You can’t pre-book or reserve a specific slot, but with tours starting every 30 minutes it isn’t difficult to get on one that fits your plans. Tours last around an hour.
The shelter isn’t open every day, check opening times before visiting the White Cliffs of Dover if you’re coming specifically for this. Find up to date opening times here.
Is Fan Bay Deep Shelter Dog Friendly?
No, this isn’t one for the four legged friends. Only assistance dogs are allowed into the tunnels.
You are welcome to wait at surface level with a dog and water bowls are provided, if one person wants to do dog sitting duty.
Other Things to do Nearby
- Walk to South Foreland Lighthouse: a Victorian lighthouse built to guide ships through the Strait of Dover. Explore the lighthouse interior, play games or relax on the lawns or visit the tea room housed in the old lighthouse keepers cottage.
- The Langdon Tunnel Walk: If you’re up for an adventure, tackle the Langdon Tunnel walk. It involves a cliff side path, a tunnel through the cliffs and a vertical ladder down to a rocky cove. I absolutely loved this one, talk about turning a walk into an adventure! Find the blog post with all the details linked below:
Langdon Stairs & Tunnel Walk: The Creepy Tunnel and Secret Beach Adventure
Helen x
How fascinating. One to make time for next time we’re in Dover. We tend to head for the ferry and nowt else. We’ve been missing out. Thanks Helen!
The White Cliffs are the perfect pre- ferry stop 😊
👍
Splendid Helen – definitely something I’d like to experience when we’re in the Dover area.
It’s a great experience- included with NT membership too.
I first learned of the White cliffs of Dover from a story I read long ago. This was before Google images came along. The story is all forgotten but the cliffs sort of remained tucked away safe. It was amazing to imagine cliffs that were stark white in colour. Today, reading your post about its tunnels gives me even more reasons to someday see it all for myself. Lovely post , Helen.
Thank you, the cliffs are stunning. Definitely one of those places that doesn’t disappoint when you see them for yourself.
Though of you recently as White Lotus popped up on my Amazon suggestions. Saved for some girls nights viewing next time my daughters are home!
Until you started posting about this area of Kent I had no idea there was so much to see and do there, beyond the cliffs themselves of course. This sounds especially fascinating and I’d love to work it into a trip one day!
I think a lot of people just pass through this corner of Kent. A shame, there’s so much to enjoy.
Looks fascinating. I had no idea about the use of sound mirrors, what a clever invention!! I really do need to visit Dover one day, I’ve never been and it seems there is a lot to do!
The sound mirrors are very clever, calling into it and hearing your voice bounced back was a bit odd though. Loads of lovely places on the south coast, trying to see as much as possible before we are posted again.
It all sounds like a bit of a nightmare, Helen, because I’m not great underground. I’d probably stay with Wolf, but it’s amazing what went on back then xx
Ooh definitely not one for you then, it really did feel close and quite confusing at times. Fantastic bit of local history though!
Didn’t visit these specific tunnels but we visited a couple last month (Dover Castle & Ramsgate) and it definitely has an interesting history. Remarkably one of the volunteers at Ramsgate was old enough to have lived through the period as a kid so had some particularly interesting stories.
I’ll have to check these out next time I’m in Dover.