Remains of two of Bletchley Park's earliest World War Two buildings are discovered

The brick footings of two huts were revealed as workmen were digging up one of the former code-breaking centre's car parks

(David Sandison)

Remains of two of the earliest World War Two buildings constructed at the British wartime code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, have been discovered under a car park at the site.

Built in August 1939, the two wooden huts, constructed on brick foundations, were demolished respectively in 1950 and 1986. One was used as a snack shop for wartime  intelligence workers, while the second hut was initially used for analysing decrypted Enigma and other German military messages.

The brick footings of the two huts were revealed as workmen were digging up one of Bletchley Park’s car parks as part of a restoration program at the complex. Archaeological investigations will now take place.

The two buildings formed part of the original very small complex at the site which, during the six years of the war, was expanded some 50 fold.

“It is the first opportunity we have had to examine the foundations of the first wartime buildings at Bletchley Park,” said Dr Joel Greenberg, one of Bletchley Park’s  historians.