The Cabinet War Rooms were created in 1938, as the underground storage areas of the Office of
Works Building in Whitehall were converted to house the central core of government and to become a military information centre, serving the Prime Minister and the Chiefs of Staff of the air, naval and
land forces. Intended as a temporary site, the rooms became operational on 27 August 1939, a week
before the German invasion of Poland and Britain’s declaration of war. This ‘temporary’ but timely
measure served as the central shelter for government and military strategists for the next six years.
During 2010 and beyond there will be a wide range of activities and events taking place.
ACTIVITIES
Easter Holidays
4 April – April 16, 2010
Focus on Chamberlain
Chamberlain’s beginning of the end: this interactive workshop marks 70 years since Chamberlain was forced out of office, paving the way for Churchill to become Prime Minister. Visitors will be invited to examine opposing views on Chamberlain, and come to their own opinions on the success or failure of his time in office. Visitors are invited to look at the end of Chamberlain’s premiership seventy years since his last days in power. There will be a range of sources, such as newspapers, cartoons, and speeches so that visitors can decide for themselves how he deserves to be remembered.
May
All Change Please – All change!
*Churchill War Rooms
1 May, 2010 marks the launch of the venue name change to Churchill War Rooms.
May Bank Holiday
Codes and Spies
1 May – 3 May, 2010
This Bank Holiday visitors are invited to take part in Interactive activities decoding clues. On entry to the War Rooms, visitors will be invited to code breaking training before tracking down and decoding clues around the site. Will they be able to uncover the plot in time to save Churchill’s bunker? On Saturday 2 May, a Second World War Morse coding veteran will be on hand to support the training and explain the pivotal and pressured nature of his role.
Winston Churchill Anniversary
10 May, 2010
May 10 celebrates the 70th anniversary of Winston Churchill becoming Prime Minister and sees the launch of a unique Churchill Deep Zoom – an innovative online gallery mosaic of hundreds of Churchill images, documents, information and surprises, that visitors can also access via the Museum website, launched in support of the anniversary.
Museums at Night 2010 – A night in the bunker
14 May
One of the best weekends in the UK calendar, the annual celebration of after-hours culture in museums and galleries takes place on 14 May, 2010. Churchill War Rooms’ sleepover will offer lucky visitors the chance to spend the night in Churchill’s atmospheric Second World War shelter beneath the streets of Whitehall. Visitors might even be able to see if the dummy of Winston does its fabled ‘mysterious move’ during the night! (adults only)
The package includes:
- A guidebook and personal facsimile pass
- After hours entry to the Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms
- A welcome talk providing background to the site and Churchill’s use of it 70 years ago
- Guided tour around the Cabinet War Rooms
- Films, objects, and replica documents relating to the site available to examine in detail
- A two course evening meal and hearty breakfast the next morning
- A cash bar
- Tickets available for 50 adults (over 18s only) priced at £45.00 per head
Paint Like Churchill
Saturdays in May and Half-term
8,15,22,29 & 31 May – 4 June, 2010
10.30 – 16.30 in the Clore Learning Centre
Sir Winston was a prodigious painter, producing more than 500 oils and exhibiting at London’s prestigious Royal Academy. This Half-term come and discover the man behind the iconic images with drop-in explorations and discussions of Winston Churchill’s important paintings. Try out your own art skills, from a basic level of ‘painting in’ Churchill’s favourite painting of Chartwell, to copying one of his pieces, using one of his varied styles on display and painting your own subject.
19 May, 2010
Sir Winston Churchill’s life through his paintings
A free lunch-time talk (12:30-13:15) by Minnie Churchill, Director of Churchill Heritage and co-author of Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings – pre- booking is essential.
Summer holidays
Working in the War Rooms
26 July – 31 August, 2010
Drop in events, Monday -Friday, 11.00 – 4.00
Throughout the summer holidays, visitors’ experiences of Churchill War Rooms will be enhanced by the opportunity to look more closely at objects and documents associated with it and with the people who worked here. Artefacts from the Second World War will be available for handling, and facsimile documents – including minutes from Cabinet meetings held here – to be investigated.
Spitfire event
16 August – 31 August, 2010
A full-size accurate replica Spitfire, decked out in Battle of Britain camouflage, will be on view to the public outside the front entrance to the Museum, with the opportunity to create a skyscape on the pavement around it using traditional pavement chalks.
RAF Spitfire and Hurricane Fly-over
20 August, 2010
As a part of the RAF’s Battle of Britain commemorative programme on 20 August there will be a fly-over of the War Rooms by an RAF Spitfire and Hurricane at 15:42pm (the very moment that this iconic speech was delivered to people on the BBC). There will also be a reading of an excerpt of Churchill’s speech, ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’, outside the Museum entrance.
Blitz Weekends
4, 9, 16, 23 and 30 September, 2010
Commemorating the Blitz with WCRAG, including Stories of London.
Big Draw
Stop the Clocks
1 October – 31 October, 2010
The Big Draw is a month-long season of drawing events for people of all ages and abilities and takes place throughout Britain. A range of Art activities help to connect visitors with the museum collections in new and enjoyable ways.
October Half-term
Spirit of the Flicks
25 October – 29 October, 2010
Continuing the commemoration of the Blitz, with a flick book creation.
EXHIBITION
Undercover – Life in Churchill’s Bunker
Extended due to popular demand – now on until end 2013
Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms Visitors will be able to learn from the first-hand personal accounts of those who worked in the Cabinet War Rooms during the war, what life and conditions were like, and experiencing the authenticity and emotional resonance of walking through the corridors where Churchill made history.
# The exhibition is included in the general admission price (details below)
SPECIAL EVENTS
Churchill Lecture Series
The Churchill Lecture Series, which runs until the end of March 2010, is presented by some of the world’s leading authorities on Churchill. They take place within the remarkable and historic setting of the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, and are sponsored by Military History.
Professor Gary Sheffield – Professor of War Studies at the University of Birmingham Fighting for Churchill? The ordinary British soldier in the Second World War
17 March, 2010
In this lecture Professor Sheffield, one of the leading writers on the First World War, turns his attention to the Second World War, examining the impact of combat on the ordinary soldier and analysing their motivation for fighting. In the process he highlights the true, often misunderstood costs of war on the individual. Gary Sheffield is Professor of War Studies at the University of Birmingham. Author of numerous outstanding books and articles on the history of the two World Wars, he is famous for his work in demythologising accepted perceptions of the 1914-18 War.
Nigel Steel – Head of the Imperial War Museum’s Research and Information Department. With Winston Churchill at the Front
23 March, 2010
From November 1915 to May 1916, Churchill served in the trenches of France and Belgium, enduring danger and hardship alongside the men he commanded. This talk will take a detailed look at his time ‘at the front’ and show how Churchill proved to be a very able, if unusual, leader of men, rebuilding their morale after the losses they had suffered some weeks before. Nigel Steel is the Principal Historian on the Lord Ashcroft Gallery Project, in which will be displayed the largest ever exhibition of Victoria Crosses.
BOOKING INFORMATION
Adults £15, Seniors, Students and Friends of the Imperial War Museum £12, which also allows preferential access to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Guests can enjoy the site before and after the lecture.
Telephone 020 7766 0155 or visit cwr.iwm.org.uk. All tickets include full access to the Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms.
Doors open at 6.30 with the lectures beginning at 7.00pm and remain open after the lectures until 9.00 pm.
General Admission
Tickets: £14.95 adults; £12.00 seniors and students; £9.00 visitors with disabilities (Free Carer);
children under 16 free, Special admission rates for groups of ten or more.
Opening hours: 9.30am-6pm; last admission at 5pm
Location: Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AQ
Telephone: 020 7930 6961
Nearest tube: Westminster
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms is a branch of the Imperial War Museum.
Entry to Undercover: Life in Churchill’s Bunker is included within the price of a ticket
to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms
www.iwm.org.uk/churchill
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