The Fan Bay Plotting Room

Beneath Britain's most famous cliffs lies one of its least-known wartime secrets. Now, an underground plotting room and command post buried for decades and rediscovered by the National Trust is opening to visitors for the first time.

Attraction Dover

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Useful info

  • On-site parking (charges may apply)
  • Nature-positive initiatives
  • Toilets on site
  • Dog-friendly
  • Accessible

Admission

Admission fees

Contact

From 13 November 2026, visitors to the White Cliffs of Dover will be able to descend into the Fan Bay Plotting Room, a remarkably preserved WWII operations centre that helped direct the guns defending the Strait of Dover.

Following the fall of France in 1940, Dover became Britain's frontline. With enemy forces occupying the French coast just 21 miles away, the town endured sustained shelling and aerial attacks, earning the name 'Hellfire Corner'. Strengthening Britain's coastal defences became a national priority, championed by Winston Churchill.

Fan Bay Battery formed part of this defensive network. Hidden beneath its guns, deep within the chalk cliffs, the plotting room was the first of its type ever constructed. 

Abandoned after the war, the plotting room was eventually buried beneath soil during the 1970s. Rediscovered in 2017, it has since been the focus of years of archaeological investigation, research and conservation by dedicated National Trust staff, volunteers and partners. Volunteers have also painstakingly researched the lives of those who served at Fan Bay, uncovering personal stories that shed new light on the room's wartime history.

A man in a red hard hat talking to a group wearing white hard hats
Visits to Fan Bay Plotting Room are by guided tour only. Pre-booking is essential.
Visiting the Fan Bay Plotting Room
  • Pre-booking is essential either via the link or by phone
  • Experience: you will join a group for a volunteer-led guided tour
  • Duration: approximately one hour, including the walk to the Plotting Room from the car park
  • Price: £10 per person (including NT members)
  • Car park charge: £6 per car for non-members (NT members free)
  • Group size: up to 15 visitors
  • Supervised children are welcome but no babes in arms or carriers
  • Season: winter, with tours running in all but hazardous weather conditions
  • The nearest toilets and refreshments are at the White Cliffs of Dover visitor centre, a 30-minute walk or a 10-minute drive away.
Accessibility
  • There is no parking close to the Plotting Room. The 900-metre walk to the entrance is via grass paths/roads that may become slippery in wet weather.
  • Access to the plotting room is via a hatch and the vertical main access shaft, with a step-over and a steep staircase of 18 steps with one landing.
  • If you have restricted mobility, please telephone the property office for advice before booking.

Please note: the experience may not be suitable for everyone. Visitors should consult the full accessibility information on the National Trust website before booking and wear suitable clothing and sturdy footwear.

Three men in uniform wearing ear pieces and sitting at desks
A contemporary battery plotting room interior with personnel. Credit Major Barlow Archive.
Can you help?

The National Trust is asking for help identifying the men from the 203rd Coast Battery and 540th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery, or any other individuals who served at Fan Bay gun battery, especially in the plotting room or command posts.

If you can help, please contact the White Cliffs via whitecliffs@nationaltrust.org.uk or 01304 202756. Thank you. 

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