Glossary Of Underground Exploration Terminology
August 04, 2010 4:49 PM ‐ Underground • UrbEx
This article is more than ten years old and was last updated in January 2019.
Urban exploration words, phrases and terminology explained.
Photo: © Crown Copyright
Adit
A horizontal or almost horizontal entrance to a quarry.
Bakerloo line
A London underground line, opened in 1906 and coloured brown on the tube maps.
Basil Hill Barracks
Ministry of Defence property, it's situated above Tunnel Quarry and Spring Quarry and consists of mostly office space.
Bunker
A bunker is a manmade underground structure which is often reinforced to withstand attack.
Burlington
A code name for the former Emergency Government War Headquarters.
CAD Corsham
Central Ammunitions Depot Corsham.
Cathedral
Cathedral in terms of underground exploration is a large, cavernous area of Box Quarry.
CCC
Command and Control Centre/Corsham Computer Center.
CDCN
Command Defence Communications Network.
CDI Fan
Corsham Depot Inlet Fan/Cilft Drift Intake fan.
Central line
A London underground line, opened in 1900 and coloured red on the tube map.
CGWHQ
Central Government War Headquarters.
Circle line
A London underground line, opened in 1884 and coloured yellow on the tube maps.
COBR
A suite of secure briefing rooms under Whitehall, used in times of national crisis by various government departments.
Cold War
The Cold War was an ongoing state of political unrest which lasted from 1947 to 1991 between the Communist World, mainly the Soviet Union and the Western world.
Dark Places
Dark Places is a trusted and active forum and research portal relating to urban and underground exploration.
DCSA
Defence Communication Services Agency.
District line
A London underground line, opened in 1868 and coloured green on the tube map.
EGWHQ
Emergency Government War Headquarters.
First World War
The First World War, also known as World War I or WWI and formerly the Great War, began in Europe in 1914 and ended in November 1918.
Freestone
Freestone is a stone is a fine grained, uniform stone which is soft enough to be cut without shattering or splitting.
GOSCC
Global Operations and Security Control Centre.
Hammersmith & City line
A London underground line, opened in 1988 and coloured pink on the tube map.
JSU Corsham
Joint Support Unit Corsham, formerly known as RAF Rudloe Manor.
Jubilee line
A London underground line, opened in 1979 and coloured silver on the tube map.
Limestone
A sedimentary rock, quarried for construction.
Metropolitan line
A London underground line, opened in 1863 and coloured magenta on the tube map.
Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence is responsible for the UK's defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
MSLP
Abbreviation for Main Surface Loading Platform.
New Works
The original name locals gave to the Burlington Bunker.
Nick Catford
Nick Catford is an underground historian, author and chairman of Subterranea Britannica.
Nick McCamley
Nick McCamley is a historian with a special interest in WWII and Cold War bunkers.
Northern line
A London underground line, opened in 1890 and coloured black on the tube map.
Octavian
Octavian offer bonded storage of fine wines in a former WWII ammunitions depot.
Oolite
Oolite is a rock formed from spherical grains in concentric layers.
Piccadilly line
A London underground line, opened in 1906 and coloured dark blue on the tube map.
PINDAR
PINDAR is a secure government bunker complex, constructed in the 1990s beneath the Ministry of Defence headquarters on Whitehall in Central London.
PNCC
Primary Network Control Centre.
QOC
Quarry Operations Center in Corsham.
Quarrymans' Arms
The Quarrymans' Arms is a pub which sits above Box Quarry and pays tribute to the local quarry history.
Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen was an important name in Bath's history as one of the pioneers of the stone trade.
Restore LTD
Restore, which now incorporates Wansdyke Security, is a secure storage company.
Royal Observer Corps
ROC was given the responsibility of reporting nuclear attacks from hundreds bunkers across UK.
Second World War
The Second World War, also known as World War II or WWII began in 1938 and ended in 1945.
Secret Cold War Nuclear Bunkers
A book by Wiltshire based historian, Nick McCamley which looks in details at the history of hundreds of secret bunkers built across the UK as the threat of war loomed over the county.
Secret Underground Cities
A book by Wiltshire based historian, Nick McCamley which uncovers the secrets of the Burlington Bunker in Corsham.
Site 1
Site 1 was part of RAF Rudloe, now know as JSU Corsham.
Site 2
Site 2 was the name of a now disused part of the RAF Rudloe Manor site.
Site 3
A code name for the former Emergency Government War Headquarters.
Slope Shaft
A slope shaft is a quarry entrance, dug in to the ground at an incline. Often they include pedestrian access via steps as well as rails for a cart used to extract the quarry's product.
SSSI
Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith is a journalist who has written about underground Britain.
Steve Higgins
Steve Higgins is the founder of Nettleden, usually going by the name "Higgypop" online.
Subterfuge
A code name for the former Emergency Government War Headquarters.
Turnstile
A code name for the former Emergency Government War Headquarters.
Victoria line
A London underground line, opened in 1968 and coloured light on the tube map.
Wansdyke Security
Wansdyke Security, now trading under the name Restore is a secure storage company.
War Department
The War Department was a government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the forces during wartime Britain.
Waterloo & City line
A London underground line, opened in 1898 and coloured turquoise on the tube map.
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