No current operator or landowner permission for a public visit was established in this review. The linked designation is historical evidence, not an access invitation. Do not enter the site, open hatches or cross private land on the strength of this map.
Read the source used for this access review ↗ · checked 2026-09-13
Stay within authorised areas. Do not enter unstaffed tunnels, shafts, railway land or restricted property.
How to explore responsiblyReviewed 2026-09-13 · review due 2026-10-13. Desk research from the full official designation and the cited historical context. No site visit or direct operator contact.
The recorded history
The Skipsea designation includes both a wartime visual observation post and an underground monitoring post opened in 1959. The latter served as a master post for three others and reported to York’s No.20 Group headquarters. The record dates the end of local visual spotting to 1963 and the underground post’s closure to 1991. This is a paired site whose significance depends on the relationship between two different structures.
How to understand the remains
An observer looking for aircraft needed a view of the sky. A crew monitoring nuclear effects needed protected accommodation and instrument readings. Comparing the two recorded buildings makes that change tangible without treating every concrete structure as a gun position. The designation describes surviving fittings and damage to the older structure; those observations are historical evidence, not a present safety assessment. No interior visit, public entrance or safe route into the enclosure has been confirmed by this review.
What remains uncertain
Descriptions of survival refer to the source record, not a September 2026 inspection. Current fabric, ownership and authorised visitor arrangements require further checking.
Sources used for the access review
- Historic England — Royal Observer Corps underground monitoring post and World War II visual spotting post, 200m north of Southfield House ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
What the official index records
Historic England / Planning Data records this location as Royal Observer Corps underground monitoring post and World War II visual spotting post, 200m north of Southfield House. Our atlas groups it under cold war using that source wording.
Record details
- Category
- Cold War
- Source classification
- Royal Observer Corps underground monitoring post and World War II visual spotting post, 200m north of Southfield House
- Period / construction dates
- WWII visual post; underground post 1959–1991
- Current condition
- Not verified
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Designation date
- 2004-04-15
- Nearest reference town
- Hull (approximate)
- County / historic source county
- Not supplied
- County or local authority (ONS)
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- Nation
- England
- Source record ID
- 1021192
- Coordinates
- 53.975822, -0.209024 (reference point, not an entrance)
- Index checked
- 2026-09-13
- Source last updated
- 2026-08-28
- Published access reviewed
- 2026-09-13
Index verification means the record and supplied attributes were checked against the official downloaded index on 2026-09-13. It does not mean a site visit or confirmation of current access. Points may refer to a whole complex, a surviving component or a recorded location.