Original subtitles

Narrator: a haunting facility Saved from destruction

By a remarkable Hollywood connection.

Puff: the same day that The wrecking balls

Came to tear this place down

Was the same day that The filming company showed up.

Narrator: Vast monolithic structures That dominate a tiny island

And speak of a brutal Time in its past.

What are these Things doing in this

Otherwise pristine landscape?

Narrator: a mysterious island Where compasses flicker

And shrapnel scars its remains.

And shrapnel scars its remains.

All the structures that exist Are riddled with bullet holes

And signs of explosions.

It's like you're walking Through a war zone.

Narrator: Once, they were some of the most

Advanced structures And facilities on the planet.

At the cutting edge Of design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned,

Contaminated, And sometimes deadly.

But who built them and how?

And why were they abandoned?

And why were they abandoned?

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

*

*

In the center Of the state of ohio,

Just to the north Of the city of mansfield

Stands an ornate Yet foreboding building.

Stands an ornate Yet foreboding building.

*

Gough: from the outside,

It looks like some Kind of palace

Or even a castle.

It appears to be The kind of structure

That you would create

That would have A lasting impression

On anyone who set eyes on it.

Meigs: When you see this building,

You know it was built For something important.

And clearly, whoever Built it meant it to last.

And clearly, whoever Built it meant it to last.

Selwood: The building is vast and grand

With very detailed And fancy architecture.

It's definitely A statement piece.

Meigs: it's built with this Massive, massive stone,

So clearly, it's not A very inviting place.

Gough: Kind of gives you the shivers.

It's sort of like A haunted house

And it definitely gives you The impression

That something bad May have happened here.

That something bad May have happened here.

Narrator: Behind this impressive exterior

Hides a dark secret.

How can the interior And exterior

Be so catastrophically Different?

Gough: what it originally set Out to do and what it ended up,

Those bookends couldn't Be further apart.

Selwood: this was to be A place of spiritual

Regeneration and rebirth.

Regeneration and rebirth.

It's about salvation.

This is a righteous building.

Gough: and you have to imagine That those who conceived it

Had no idea what a horror story Of a legacy they had spawned.

*

Narrator: Why go to such lengths

To build such a dramatic And righteous structure?

What was it used for And why was it abandoned?

*

*

The origins Of this building's story

Stretch back to the Late 19th century.

It was built in the mid-1880s

As a beacon of Hope for the state.

Selwood: this site at mansfield Was chosen in 1885

For a very special reason,

A very particular project.

It was one that was going to Be liberal and progressive.

They wanted to take Young offenders

And rehabilitate And reeducate them

And rehabilitate And reeducate them

In the most positive Way possible.

Meigs: It was a reformatory.

So the notion was, you Weren't just punishing people.

You were helping them learn,

And then you would release Them out in the world

And they would Commit crimes no more.

Narrator: this is The ohio state reformatory.

With the first brick laid In 1886,

Soon after, A stream of young offenders

Soon after, A stream of young offenders

Were brought here to begin Their rehabilitation.

Meigs: They started housing prisoners

In the complex before It was even finished,

And the prisoners themselves Did a lot of the work

To complete the building,

Including building The sewer system.

Narrator: not until 1910

Was the reformatory Finally complete.

While the facility began life With the best of intentions,

While the facility began life With the best of intentions,

Its stark interior Reflects how this

Reformist zeal was soon replaced

With a more brutal approach To life inside.

Gough: the place had taken a Completely different direction.

This was now a place Not of rehabilitation,

But a place of incarceration

Where you would Lock up the baddies

And throw away the key.

And throw away the key.

Narrator: this wing demonstrates The new direction

The reformatory was taking, As expert ron puff explains.

Puff: we're currently in The west cell block.

The west cell block was a Housing unit for your inmates.

This has five tiers, Originally 350 cells,

Meant for one inmate to a cell.

Ended up from the very Beginning with two inmates,

So we housed 700 inmates here.

It wasn't so bad Early on living here.

Now in later years, They could be in their cells

Now in later years, They could be in their cells

20, 22 hours a day.

Can you imagine being there?

Walking through those corridors Into your caged cell,

And hearing The sound of the door

Slammed and locked behind you.

And then the riotous sounds Of other inmates.

It must have been A terrifying existence.

Narrator: Juveniles were increasingly

Incarcerated Separately from adults,

Incarcerated Separately from adults,

And societal changes Dramatically altered

The character And purpose of this facility.

The boys were forced to leave.

Puff: so they keep this As an adult facility,

And all those Juveniles have to go to

Another facility altogether,

And now you've got A prison full of space.

What do you do with it?

Selwood: in wider society, Evermore people were being

Convicted of increasingly Violent crimes,

Convicted of increasingly Violent crimes,

And prisons across the country

Were becoming overfilled With inmates.

So, mansfield became Just another prison.

In fact, it became one Of the hardest prisons,

The worst of the worst,

With some of the most Violent offenders

From around the country Being kept there.

Narrator: over the years,

Conditions became Evermore extreme

As the prison Expanded and became

A maximum-security facility.

As inmate numbers escalated,

As inmate numbers escalated,

The depths of depravity Grew to a whole new level.

Gough: violence was part Of everyday life.

You could be beat up in a fight,

You could be stabbed, You could be mugged.

You could be thrown off A high walkway.

I mean, the place was Such that you were

In fear of your life Each and every day.

Puff: inmates were told, When you came here,

Make yourself a weapon And hide it in the backyard.

So if everything goes crazy,

So if everything goes crazy,

You at least know Where your shank

Or your rock or whatever it is

You placed is so You can be safe.

And they feared coming In the gates here.

Narrator: This violence would lead

To its self-destruction.

But how would hollywood Come to its rescue

And save it from demolition?

*

Narrator: despite starting Out as a facility

To rehabilitate young offenders,

By the 1930s, The ohio state reformatory

Had become a brutal Adult prison.

One of the most frightening Places to find yourself

Was at the end Of these dark corridors.

A place no one wanted to be.

A place no one wanted to be.

Puff: for the worst offenders,

There was solitary confinement Here at the reformatory.

When you came in here, It was punishment.

And so, the whole Time you were in here,

You weren't supposed to talk.

They might keep the lights on 24 hours a day.

They might keep the lights off 24 hours a day.

There was no reading.

Your meal schedule Would be moved around

So you never knew What time it was.

And so, early on, they came In here with no clothes.

They were naked.

They had a bucket that Was their commode.

They slept on the cement floor.

Narrator: A combination of violence,

Riots, and a spiraling Population

Ensured that the hole, As it was known,

Was crammed full of prisoners.

Meigs: In one case, they had a riot,

And they wound up Putting 120 prisoners

Down in the hole at The same time for 30 days.

Gough: in this instance, They actually found a body

That had been Murdered and stuffed

Into a mattress for several days

Before anyone realized He was dead.

Before anyone realized He was dead.

Narrator: Yet, endemic violence continued,

Until in an unlikely twist, The tables were turned.

Selwood: Inmates finally took matters Into their own hands,

And they filed a lawsuit That the facility was violating

Their constitutional rights By dehumanizing them.

In the end, The problems at the site

Were so widespread That it was all too much,

And the facility was abandoned.

And the facility was abandoned.

Narrator: In its 96-year history,

Over 150,000 inmates Had walked through its doors.

Over 200 of them died On the inside.

Selwood: these days, There are many accounts

Of it being haunted,

Of there being paranormal Activity at the site,

But that's hardly surprising

When you think Of the degree of violence

That the building Had seen for so many decades.

Puff: is the ohio state Reformatory haunted?

Puff: is the ohio state Reformatory haunted?

And if you ask a number Of our staff members,

They will say yes.

They'll snap their fingers Just like that.

Me? Things happen here.

Why? I'll let you figure it out.

*

Narrator: Today, this grand facility

Has become A major tourist attraction,

In no small part,

Thanks to an extraordinary Twist of fate.

Meigs: It was scheduled for demolition.

Meigs: It was scheduled for demolition.

But just before that,

A film crew came To shoot a movie that,

Of course, has Become world famous,

"The shawshank redemption."

Puff: the same day that The wrecking balls

Came to tear this place down

Was the same day that The filming company showed up.

"The shawshank redemption" was The redemption of this prison.

*

*

Narrator: just off the coast Of normandy in france

Is the small british island Of guernsey.

Looming over its coastline

Are bizarre looking Constructions.

Bell: in the otherwise quiet And picturesque surroundings,

You start to discover actually

A huge amount of these Concrete, imposing structures.

Nusbacher: The way that these concrete Monoliths are stacked,

Nusbacher: The way that these concrete Monoliths are stacked,

They look a bit like the Heads off of easter island.

Jerram: it's like "Star wars" Has been filmed there.

These really strange Almost monolith type

Constructions poking Out of the ground.

Narrator: further inland,

A cavernous concrete bowl Lies sunken into the ground.

It's huge. It's like an amphitheater.

It's huge. It's like an amphitheater.

I don't think The locals would have ever

Envisaged structures like this Being built on the island.

*

Narrator: beneath this Monumental mass of concrete

Lurk other hidden features.

Jerram: There's a railway track that

Starts to lead You into a tunnel.

And when you follow That tunnel inside,

You start going underground.

You start going underground.

When you get closer, You see that there's

Actually a lot more to them.

There's networks And you start to

Kind of see old paraphernalia.

Narrator: in amongst the maze Of dark rooms

And mysterious symbols,

Writing emerges Out of the darkness.

But these are not english.

Surprisingly, They are written in german,

And they hint At the wretched fate

That befell Their former occupants.

That befell Their former occupants.

Things started To get really tough.

In fact, many of them Began to starve.

*

Narrator: who decided to invest In these gigantic structures,

And why were they Finally abandoned?

*

Narrator: on the small British island of guernsey,

Colossal concrete structures Dominate the land.

How are they all connected, And why were they abandoned?

*

The roots of this Mystery can be found

In the early years Of world war ii.

In the early years Of world war ii.

By june 1940, Hitler had crushed france

And was turning his attention

To his next target, Great britain.

Lying just 20 miles away Across the english channel,

Great britain Was tantalizingly close,

But a small piece of british Territory lay even closer.

The channel islands.

Bell: Although the channel islands Are british territory,

They're actually must closer To the coast of france.

They're actually must closer To the coast of france.

And hitler viewed them As strategically important.

Nusbacher: If you want to go from Britain and invade france,

The channel islands Are a great first step.

They get you most Of the way there,

And the nazis could not allow The british

To continue to control Those islands

Right on the edge of france.

Narrator: On the 28th of june, 1940,

Narrator: On the 28th of june, 1940,

The luftwaffe bombers came Swooping in over the islands.

Jerram: A tragedy within the war

Was the fact that The germans essentially

Bombed the channel islands,

Expecting there to be Quite a lot of resistance.

They killed about 44 people And they didn't need to do that.

Bell: It was only a few days later

When the germans Actually arrived.

They discovered That the islands had been

Undefended the whole time.

[ bell tolling ]

[ bell tolling ]

Nusbacher: in 1940, britain Was standing alone

Against the power Of the third reich,

And churchill was not sure

He could defend The island of great britain,

Never mind guernsey, Jersey, sark, and alderney.

Narrator: While churchill viewed

The islands as expendable,

Hitler had other ideas.

He desperately Wanted them fortified

With the most Impressive defenses

With the most Impressive defenses

The third reich could create.

Here on guernsey, This was part of their answer.

The mighty mp3 tower.

Local expert and Preservationist paul bourgaize

Explains how the tower Fitted into the nazis' plan.

Bourgaize: it was basically A range-finding tower.

It was one of five.

And each level had range Fighting capabilities

And each level had range Fighting capabilities

To obviously Find and observe targets

And send the data back To the gun batteries inland.

Narrator: The germans spent over a year

Building up their Extensive network

Of defenses on guernsey.

Located a few miles inland From the mp3 range tower,

This immense concrete bowl

Was to be one of its Most important features.

Was to be one of its Most important features.

But what was it used for?

A clue is the rail tracks That snake underground.

Bourgaize: this little railway Track was used

To bring the ammunition From the storage bunkers,

And they would be stored In this large room here,

And these would Be loaded through

This flash proof hatch And then stored in that room.

This flash proof hatch And then stored in that room.

Narrator: more than 61,000 cubic yards of concrete

Were consumed By these bunker systems.

They contained troop quarters,

Ammunition storage, And electrical generators,

All built to withstand An immense amount of firepower.

And deep in the darkness,

Slogans on The walls indicate that

This structure was Built with a real sense

Of pride and optimism.

Of pride and optimism.

Bourgaize: You can see one side,

We've got a large german Eagle painted on the wall.

And over on this side,

The emblem of The naval engineers.

Then it's called, and we're Marching towards england.

That was the motto.

Nusbacher: "Wir fahren nach england."

We are going to england.

The germans intended To invade england.

The germans intended To invade england.

Why would they be Painting that on a bunker?

Narrator: This german confidence

May have been due To what was housed

In the huge concrete bowl --

A behemoth of a gun.

This bunker complex Was called batterie mirus.

*

Bell: it consisted Of four gun emplacements

With huge great big guns Disguised as houses.

With huge great big guns Disguised as houses.

You can start to imagine The size

And the scale of these guns.

Here we are, We can see one of the four

Huge emplacements For the 30.5 centimeter gun.

Mounted there On that central position

Where those studs Are sticking up.

Underneath the mount Was a naval depth charge.

And that could've been detonated In the event that

The emplacement was captured,

The emplacement was captured,

And blow the gun Off its mountings.

*

Narrator: What event led to desperate

Starvation at this facility,

And why did the soldiers Eventually abandon this site?

*

Narrator: on the british island Of guernsey

Lies the wreckage of a Formidable nazi artillery site.

With a range of over 30 miles,

The four guns could Protect the channel islands

And reach almost all The way to the normandy coast.

Guernsey's firepower Was devastating.

Guernsey's firepower Was devastating.

In total, there were 17 coastal artillery batteries,

And 175 anti-aircraft guns On the island,

But their construction consumed An enormous amount of resources.

Jerram: this was part Of the atlantic wall,

Which stretched all the way From norway down to spain.

And it's estimated That some 8% percent

Of all of the concrete along

All of those Constructions was just

Housed in the channel islands.

Housed in the channel islands.

In fact, they fortified The channel islands so much

That there were more guns Installed here

Than there were On the neighboring

600 miles of normandy coastline.

Nusbacher: german officers Who were skeptical

About the strategic And operational

Value of the channel islands

Refer to the dense resource Intensive fortifications

As "Hitler's island madness."

As "Hitler's island madness."

Narrator: but why was Batterie mirus abandoned?

Were its guns blown off Their mountings,

Or was the incredible Structure never finished?

The beginning of The end was june 6, 1944.

D-day and the allied Invasion of france.

After the d-day landings, The german soldiers based

After the d-day landings, The german soldiers based

In the channel islands Became cut off

And had no access to supplies.

There were red cross packages

Delivered onto the islands,

But they were for locals Only, for the british.

The germans had to go without.

Bourgaize: the troops themselves That weren't

Allowed those rations Were really starving.

They were trying to catch birds,

Eating limpets off The beach, anything, seaweed.

Eating limpets off The beach, anything, seaweed.

And some things even Making themselves sick.

Eating things that really they Shouldn't have been eating,

Just to stay alive.

Narrator: After almost a year of hunger,

The german garrison finally Surrendered guernsey

On may 9, 1945.

Batterie mirus fell silent,

And its colossal guns Were sold off for scrap.

*

*

Today, these Other worldly concrete

Structures of the third reich

Still dominate The guernsey skyline,

And recall a time When these islands

Became the most fortified Place on earth.

Nusbacher: Looking at these massive Concrete fortifications,

It reminds us that Even tiny corners of europe

That we barely even heard of

That we barely even heard of

Were really important To some people

And to their lives as they lived Through the second world war.

*

Narrator: In southern finland,

On the edge of the baltic sea,

Is what's known locally As the mysterious island.

*

Meigs: from a distance, It looks like other

Meigs: from a distance, It looks like other

Islands in the region.

When you get closer,

You can see there's Something different about it.

Jerram: the island itself has A kind of darkness.

Everything's A little bit spooky.

And you wouldn't Necessarily want

To find yourself On the island alone.

Narrator: compasses flicker Out of control.

Beaches are stained black.

And as you approach, Things get even stranger.

And as you approach, Things get even stranger.

Meigs: you can spot what Looks like bunkers

Hidden along the shoreline, Ruins of old pipelines,

Piles of broken up Rock and concrete.

This isn't an ordinary island.

Jerram: the island itself Is also riddled

With some ancient history About tales of

Compasses not working Quite correctly.

Meigs: there have been a whole History of shipwrecks.

Meigs: there have been a whole History of shipwrecks.

Narrator: Wreckage and destruction

Is not confined to the waters.

On land too, The carnage continues.

Meigs: All the structures that exist Are riddled with bullet holes

And signs of explosions.

It's like you're walking Through a war zone.

Jerram: what is the problem With this place?

Why is it so odd?

*

The answers To this peculiar puzzle

The answers To this peculiar puzzle

Can be found back in The early 19th century.

By 1809, finland had Been incorporated

Into the russian empire,

And this was A strategically vital site.

Jussaro island.

Corum: The southern part of finland Is very important to russia

Because that is the gate to The capital at st. Petersburg.

Because that is the gate to The capital at st. Petersburg.

And so, controlling The gulf of finland

Is an absolute defense Requirement for russia.

Meigs: it sits in such A strategic location

In the baltic sea.

Anybody trying to Head to helsinki

Or the port of st. Petersburg In russia

Has to sail right By that island.

That makes it very valuable From a military perspective.

Narrator: it's strategic, But also extremely dangerous.

In the glacial periods,

In the glacial periods,

Jerram: it was covered under Kilometers of ice.

It was pushed down.

Since the ice is gone,

The area is actually Slowly lifting,

About four millimeters a year.

Meigs: so you might sail Past a place that

50 years ago was free sailing,

And now, there's A rocky island emerging

Right in your path.

Narrator: under russian rule,

A pilot station Was quickly set up here

To help ships navigate These precarious waters

Through to st. Petersburg.

Through to st. Petersburg.

But why do the remnants Of an extensive complex

Litter this remote outpost?

An underground discovery Quickly grabbed

The interest Of the russian state.

Somara: It turns out to have Been an amazing find

Because it was the Largest undersea

Iron ore reserve in finland.

Narrator: this explains The centuries old mystery

Of why ships' compasses Work so badly here.

Of why ships' compasses Work so badly here.

Somara: Compasses work by being drawn

To the magnetic field Of the north pole,

But the iron ore In this particular region

Had its own magnetic field,

And compasses were More drawn to that

Than the north pole.

Narrator: Did finland come to blows

With their mighty Russian rulers?

Does this explain The site's destruction?

*

Narrator: On the southern tip of finland

Sits the iron-rich Island of jussaro.

In the 1840s, russian prisoners Were shipped to its mine

And forced to excavate The valuable metal ore.

Meigs: The miners were down there

With long metal drills And sledgehammers,

Banging away, dislodging The rock face bit by bit.

Banging away, dislodging The rock face bit by bit.

And the conditions Were so hellish,

Some of the prisoners reported

They would rather be sent To labor camps in siberia.

Narrator: by the time finland Declared independence

From russia in 1917, mining On the island had stopped.

During the following Decades, the young nation's

Relationship with its Communist neighbor was marked

By tension and war.

By the 1950s, however, Finland had settled into an

By the 1950s, however, Finland had settled into an

Uneasy existence between The west and the soviet union.

In these tense political times, Mining at jussaro began again.

Finland reopened the mines, And now they had modern

Equipment and they could Mine on a much greater,

More industrial scale.

Narrator: does this explain The extensive complex

Of buildings here?

Do the bunkers on the coastline Speak of russian aggression?

Do the bunkers on the coastline Speak of russian aggression?

When mining started back up Again, they had to put in

A whole new infrastructure, Which included crushing plants,

Underwater railway lines,

Pipe networks on land, Deep tunnels.

I mean, it became A productive mining machine.

*

Narrator: former resident, Goran wikstrom,

Arrived in 1956,

Arrived in 1956,

As modern mining operations Were being prepared.

Interpreter: the tunnel went Straight out from here

To the stone island.

The tunnel went straight out From there from the shaft

Above at a depth of 550 feet.

Out there it was mining Tunnels, in total,

1.8 miles of tunnels all At a depth of nearly 600 feet.

Narrator: However, mining on the island

Narrator: However, mining on the island

Once again proved unsustainable.

Global iron prices were Plummeting, and profits did not

Justify continuing operations.

The workers were sent packing.

Interpreter: It was at christmas in 1967 When the final decision

Was made that everyone Was to leave here.

It was over, in other words.

We just moved out, and then The destruction set in.

We just moved out, and then The destruction set in.

*

But what caused This carnage and destruction?

The damage here is not Simply down to nature

And the elements.

Meigs: After the miners moved out, The finnish army moved in.

The government realized this Location was just too strategic

To leave unoccupied.

The 60s, 70s, and 80s, Yes, there was a very genuine

The 60s, 70s, and 80s, Yes, there was a very genuine

Threat from the soviet union.

They were pretty careful To be pretty conciliatory

To russia during Much of that period.

But a lot of the use Of the island was really

For training And military exercises.

And it was a place where They could fire weapons

And drop bombs without any Danger of injuring the civilian

Population, because there Was no civilian population.

Narrator: The russian invasion never came.

Narrator: The russian invasion never came.

In 2002, the armed forces held Their last shooting drill,

And the island was then Abandoned once again.

*

Today, the battered site Serves as a national park,

With half the island Open to the public.

Jerram: it's a smorgasbord Of mining and militarization.

Jerram: it's a smorgasbord Of mining and militarization.

There's bullet holes everywhere.

It's actually seen a lot Of action, this small island

In the middle of nowhere.

*

Narrator: on the suffolk Coastline in eastern england

Are a string of abandoned Buildings, strange mounds,

And intriguing Pagoda-like structures.

Selwood: It's incredibly isolated.

Selwood: It's incredibly isolated.

It's bleak, it's cut off From the mainland by a river.

But yet, there are These strange mounds

And structures on it.

Narrator: within the Dilapidated buildings,

The interiors Are equally mystifying.

Selwood: inside the buildings Have an abandoned

Quasi-industrial feel.

There are elements of metal And machinery still there,

But long disused.

Pretty well all the work That was carried out here

Was secret, Ultimately top secret.

Was secret, Ultimately top secret.

Nusbacher: you're still warned To this day that you mustn't

Tread incorrectly Or you can be blown sky high.

Narrator: what was the purpose Of these battered buildings

And strange Asian-inspired pagodas?

And why is this area Still filled with danger?

Nusbacher: You look at all of these Solidly-built buildings,

And you look at the terrible Destruction that's clearly

And you look at the terrible Destruction that's clearly

Been wreaked on them.

You have to ask, what Happened to these buildings?

*

Narrator: the first clues to The site's use can be found

Back in the tension filled Years surrounding world war I.

In 1913, the war department Acquired this large area of land

Near a small village In suffolk in order to harness

The latest technology In warfare.

The latest technology In warfare.

Nusbacher: This is the corner of england Where the experimenters came

To find out what happened When you dropped a bomb

From the plane.

In a lot of ways, This beach is where

Military aviation started.

Narrator: the race was on To test and develop this

New military science, And this pioneering site

Was leading the way --

Orford ness.

Orford ness.

Selwood: in world war I, aerial Warfare was completely new.

People had to invent A new military science,

And to start with it Was very crude.

It was simply a question of Dropping bombs out of windows.

Nusbacher: we didn't know what Happened to a bomb dropped

From a plane until the guys At orford ness watched it

And measured it With their instruments.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

Narrator: from pioneering Research to a top secret

Narrator: from pioneering Research to a top secret

Super weapon, Could a catastrophic accident

Have led to the site Being abandoned?

*

Narrator: in suffolk, england, Orford ness established itself

As a prime ballistics Testing site,

Critical to britain's Aerial forces.

However, after world war ii, Mistrust and paranoia

Were prevalent as A new era was ushered in.

Selwood: During the second world war,

Selwood: During the second world war,

The uk and us had Collaborated very closely

On weapons development,

But as the cold war Emerged after 1945,

The two parted company Fairly spectacularly,

And britain was left alone To develop its own weapons,

Including nuclear weapons.

The west goes into Overdrive in developing

Nuclear weapons in 1949.

This is the height Of the cold war.

Narrator: britain was now Engaged in a nuclear arms race,

Narrator: britain was now Engaged in a nuclear arms race,

And this site was transformed

Into the atomic weapons Research establishment.

Nusbacher: you don't want an Atomic bomb to go off

Between the factory And the airfield.

You don't want the atomic bomb To go off on the plane

On the way to the target, and You don't want the atomic bomb

To go off at the wrong time After you drop it.

To go off at the wrong time After you drop it.

All of those problems Needed to be worked out

With experimentation And that required

An experimentation site.

Narrator: so did an accidental Explosion or chernobyl-style

Radiation leak lead To the site being abandoned?

What experiments Took place here?

The site's manager, Grant lohorr, explains.

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Lohorr: the first test carried Out here was on vibrations,

So they were trying To replicate the vibration

In an aircraft or In a lorry on the road,

Or they were subjecting Them to shock or g forces

Or humidity or temperature.

Narrator: each laboratory was Designed to test different

Components of nuclear bombs.

So this is what was called The hard target

So this is what was called The hard target

Or the high-impact facility.

And this is essentially where They were rocket propelling

Atomic bomb cases, nuclear Bomb cases, into a very hard,

Concrete wall, Which was effectively

Replicating the impact of The weapon when it was dropped.

Narrator: yet the two most Intriguing facilities

At orford are at Its farthest point.

They are the pagodas.

Do these mysterious Structures hold the key

To the site's abandonment?

Nusbacher: this looks like An ancient temple.

It's got columns holding up A pyramid.

It's got arcane markings On the walls,

These strange, Cruciform brackets.

Narrator: were these strange Structures some kind

Of defensive bunker?

The work done here Was shrouded in secrecy.

The work done here Was shrouded in secrecy.

Lohorr: during that period from The late '50s into the 1960s,

The most paranoid period Probably of the cold war,

Everything really Was extremely secret.

And it appears as if The site was constantly being

Monitored and surveyed And photographed

By the soviet union.

And so everything around it Was cloaked in secrecy.

The architecture of The buildings is highly unusual,

But very specific.

They were created Explicitly for the purpose

They were created Explicitly for the purpose

Of understanding the behavior Of weaponry and explosions.

Nusbacher: This is a place designed So that if the pillars are

Blown up, the roof drops Down and clamps all

Of the explosion and debris Down into the ground.

Narrator: research conducted At orford ness

Remains largely secret.

Yet, ironically, Its success helped bring about

Yet, ironically, Its success helped bring about

Its own demise.

The u.S. Were so impressed by The work, they re-established

Their old relationship with Britain to help advance both

Nation's weapons programs.

Corum: This facility that concentrates On britain's separate

Nuclear development is Really no longer needed

Because essentially the british Will work together with the

Americans on nuclear weapons, Which is how it works today.

Americans on nuclear weapons, Which is how it works today.

Narrator: orford ness was Finally abandoned in 1987.

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Today, the site is maintained By the british national trust

As a peaceful nature reserve,

But its explosive past Has left a dangerous legacy.

But its explosive past Has left a dangerous legacy.

Selwood: after so many decades Of weapons testing at that site,

It's simply not possible to Guarantee that all devices

Have been found.

It is essentially impossible To ever clean it out.

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