English Heritage currently advertises guided tours on Fridays to Sundays and bank holidays. Book a tour before travelling, and check the live calendar for your date.
Check the official visitor information ↗ · checked 2026-09-22
Use public paths and visitor areas. Do not enter unstaffed tunnels, shafts, railway land or restricted property.
Advice before you visitInformation checked 2026-09-22. We checked published records and visitor information. No site visit or direct confirmation from the operator.
The story of this place
The bunker at Howe Hill housed the Royal Observer Corps’ No.20 Group headquarters from 1961 to 1991. Staff received reports from smaller posts, analysed the information and passed it to civil and military authorities.
The earth-covered building contained communications and operations rooms, along with sleeping and support spaces. Historic England describes retained equipment that helps explain the work. It was a reporting centre, not a public shelter for York’s population.
- Historic England — Cold War period Royal Observer Corps Group Headquarters, Howe Hill ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
What you can see
English Heritage offers pre-booked guided tours. Inside, the preserved operations room and equipment show how staff planned to collect and interpret reports of a nuclear attack. The tour also covers the facilities that would have supported people working underground.
The operator currently advertises tours on Fridays to Sundays and bank holidays. Check the live calendar and book a place before travelling; hours and availability can change. We checked the published visitor page on 22 September 2026, not an individual booking.
- Historic England — Cold War period Royal Observer Corps Group Headquarters, Howe Hill ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
- English Heritage — York Cold War Bunker ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-22
What we still need to check
The operator advertises guided tours again. We checked its published visitor page on 22 September 2026, but have not visited or confirmed a specific tour place.
Sources for the visiting information
- English Heritage — York Cold War Bunker ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-22
About the original record
This place is recorded by Historic England / Planning Data. The details below include the original description of its building or site type.
Place details
- Category
- Cold War
- Building or site type (original wording)
- Cold War period Royal Observer Corps Group Headquarters, Howe Hill
- Period or date
- Headquarters in use 1961–1991
- Current condition
- Not checked in person
- Heritage protection
- Scheduled monument
- Date protection was granted
- 2000-06-21
- Nearby town
- York (approximate)
- County named in the original record
- Not supplied
- Current county or council area
- York
- Nation
- England
- Original record number
- 1019439
- Coordinates
- 53.956794, -1.116707 (reference point, not an entrance)
- Heritage data checked
- 2026-09-13
- Source last updated
- 2026-08-28
- Visitor information checked
- 2026-09-22
We checked the downloaded heritage record on 2026-09-13. We have not visited or inspected the site. The map point may refer to a whole site, one structure or a location where little remains.