For your eyes only: James Bond exhibition planned for London’s secret wartime tunnels
Listen here on your chosen podcast platform.
An exhibition about James Bond could be among the first attractions in a planned underground museum in central London.
It is part of a project to transform the Kingsway Tunnels, which run under High Holborn, into a cultural space after developers applied to the City of London for planning permission. The tunnels, originally built beneath Chancery Lane Tube station to shelter thousands of Londoners from the Blitz during the war, cover about 7,000 square metres.
As the threat of mass enemy bombing receded, they were used by the wartime government as a secret telecommunications centre and base for the Special Operations Executive, which parachuted agents behind enemy lines after being instructed by Winston Churchill to “set Europe ablaze”.
They were then taken over by British Telecom and closed in the early Eighties. Plans submitted by London Tunnels Ltd include demolishing an office block and an empty building in Furnival Street which would be rebuilt and linked together to form the entrance to the site as well as having a gift shop and office space.
Documents prepared for the planning committee predict the tunnels could hold hundreds of visitors who could learn about the site’s “influence on wider historical events in London, including the Second World War and the Cold War” while some parts of the tunnels “may be used for medium term exhibitions on associated themes such as James Bond, a subject deriving from Ian Fleming’s reference to the tunnels in his first book of the secret agent”.
Developers also say they are looking at “partnerships with historical and heritage institutions within London”, including the British Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the Museum of London.
An application has also gone to planners at Camden council as the tunnels cross the boundaries of the two local authorities. Officials have recommended that the City grants planning permission, subject to various conditions.
If approved, the tunnels would be the latest cultural site in the City, which is increasingly marketing itself as a centre for the arts and entertainment as it diversifies from its traditional reliance on financial services.
Other plans at various stages of development include the Museum of London at West Smithfield, a migration museum at Tower Hill and a visitor attraction on the site of the original Roman forum.
