# Region 6 War Room

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Nuclear bunker in Berkshire, UK

Region 6 War Room Surface entrance building to the former Region 6 War Room Location within Reading, Berkshire General information Type Nuclear bunker Location Reading, Berkshire, UK Coordinates 51°26′20″N 0°56′04″W / 51.4390°N 0.9345°W / 51.4390; -0.9345 Construction started 1950s Listed Building – Grade II Official name Reading War Room ('The Citadel'), University of Reading Designated 10 March 2009 Reference no. 1393194

The **Region 6 War Room** is a [nuclear bunker](/source/Bunker) dating from the early days of the [Cold War](/source/Cold_War), on the [Whiteknights Park](/source/Whiteknights_Park) campus of the [University of Reading](/source/University_of_Reading) in the [English](/source/England) town of [Reading](/source/Reading%2C_Berkshire). It is one of a number of such [Regional War Rooms](/source/Regional_seat_of_government) built during the 1950s and designed to co-ordinate [civil defence](/source/Civil_defense) in the event of an attack on the country using conventional bombs or [atom bombs](/source/Atom_bomb).[1]

## Cold War usage

In the event of war, the war room would have housed the Regional Commissioner and his staff who would have directed the strategic response to air raids throughout the counties of [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire), [Buckinghamshire](/source/Buckinghamshire), [Dorset](/source/Dorset), [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire), [Oxfordshire](/source/Oxfordshire), and the [Isle of Wight](/source/Isle_of_Wight). The Regional Commissioner had the authority to assume the full powers of the central government in this region if contact with central government was lost.[1][2]

The war room takes the form of a two-level windowless building, with the upper level being above ground level and protected by massive concrete walls, while the lower level is below ground level. The building is surmounted by towers containing filtration equipment. The bunker was designed to cope with attacks by weapons of the type used during the [atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki](/source/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II).[1]

The development of the [hydrogen bomb](/source/Hydrogen_bomb) and the expectation of [mutually assured destruction](/source/Mutually_assured_destruction) meant that the war room was both inadequately protected, and seen as too small to support the large live-in staff that would be needed after a major nuclear strike. Its principal responsibilities were transferred to a new Regional Seat of Government 6 (RSG-6) at [Warren Row](/source/Warren_Row) near [Maidenhead](/source/Maidenhead). Some sources suggest that it continued in use as a civil defence communications centre for some period after this transfer.[1]

## University usage

After ceasing to be used for civil defence purposes, the war room was taken over by the university and modified as a secure storage facility for use by the university library.[3] In the university's updated development plan, announced in autumn 2007, the bunker was marked as being scheduled for demolition, along with the wartime 'temporary office buildings'. The land was to be used for a car park.[4] However, in March 2009, the building received a [Grade II heritage listing](/source/Listed_building#Categories) and is now protected.[5] Footage from 2001 shown some parts of the war room covered in mold and many leaks.[6] In 2020 a video posted by [Youtuber](/source/YouTuber) TheSecretVault, shows that most documents that are stored in there have mostly been covered by mold.[7] Also in video some of the original cold war era stuff from the war room is still there.[8]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-subbritrdg_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-subbritrdg_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-subbritrdg_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-subbritrdg_1-3) ["Reading War Room - Region 6"](http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/r/reading/reading.html). Subterranea Britannica. Retrieved 12 May 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-subbritrwr_2-0)** ["The Regional War Rooms: 1950's"](http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/features/war_rooms/). Subterranea Britannica. Retrieved 12 May 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Hyde, Nathan John (30 September 2017). ["Reading is home to a nuclear war room"](http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-home-nuclear-war-room-13693410). *Berkshire Live*. Retrieved 16 December 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-devplan_4-0)** ["Whiteknights Development Plan"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080330215013/http://www.rdg.ac.uk/about/about-local.asp). University of Reading. Archived from [the original](http://www.rdg.ac.uk/about/about-local.asp) on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Historic England](/source/Historic_England) (10 March 2009). ["Reading War Room ('The Citadel'), University of Reading (Grade II) (1393194)"](https://HistoricEngland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1393194?section=official-list-entry). *[National Heritage List for England](/source/National_Heritage_List_for_England)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Chris Spargo (11 August 2025). [*My uni wouldn't let me see their nuclear bunker*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsMYbPyBZ6A). Retrieved 2 January 2026 – via YouTube.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** TheSecretVault (24 October 2020). [*Top Secret War Rooms on Reading Campus grounds NUCLEAR BUNKER RSG 6*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYYYxDG73d4). Retrieved 2 January 2026 – via YouTube.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** TheSecretVault (24 October 2020). [*Top Secret War Rooms on Reading Campus grounds NUCLEAR BUNKER RSG 6*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYYYxDG73d4). Retrieved 2 January 2026 – via YouTube.

v t e University of Reading People Chancellor: Paul Lindley Vice-Chancellor: Robert Van de Noort Academics List of alumni Campuses Greenlands Iskandar Malaysia London Road Whiteknights Facilities Atmospheric Observatory Harris Garden Henley Business School Herbarium ICMA Centre National Centre for Biotechnology Education Thames Valley Science Park Museums Cole Museum of Zoology Museum of English Rural Life Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology Buildings Foxhill House Halls of residence Region 6 War Room Wantage Hall War Memorial Other Reading University Boat Club The Spark Category Commons

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Region 6 War Room](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Region_6_War_Room) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Region_6_War_Room?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.