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TELEPRINTER BUILDING BLETCHLEY PARK

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The Teleprinter Buildings of the Government Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park, were constructed in 1941 in brick with a steel frame to provide blast-proof protection for the teleprinter equipment and their operators. The lack of windows - a measure for blast protection - was a distinctive feature of the buildings in their original single-storey form. The ever increasing demand for communications at Bleltchley Park resulted in the piece-meal development of these buildings with the addition of offices (Huts 14 and 14a) during 1941-1942, later increased blast protection, a single storey extension in 1943 and the addition of a second storey to some parts in late 1943-1944.

Teleprinters were used by Bletchley Park both to receive intercepted Enigma messages for decoding and to distribute information from the decoded messages to allied command centres across the world .

After the departure of the Governnment Code and Cipher School in 1946 the main element of the teleprinter buildings was initialy used by the General Post Office as a cinema for the dual purpose of training and entertainment, and then substantially rebuilt in 1957 as an assembly hall for Bletchley Teacher Training College. As part of this rebuild, windows were inserted in the buildings and some sections, including the office huts were demolished. In 1992 it became part of the Bletchley Park Trust which manages the site and from 1994 formed part of Bletchley Park National Codes Centre Museum.

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The Teleprinter Buildings at Bletchley Park were constructed in 1941 in brick with a steel frame to provide blast-proof protection for the teleprinter equipment and their operators. The lack of windows - for blast protection - was a distinctive feature of the buildings in their original single-storey form. The ever increasing demand for communications at Bletchley Park resulted in the piece-meal development of these buildings and the addition of a second storey to some parts in 1944. Teleprinters were used by Bletchley Park both to receive intercepted Enigma messages for decoding and to distribute information from the decoded messages to allied command centres across the world. After the departure of the Governnment Code and Cipher School in 1946 the main element of the teleprinter buildings was substantially rebuilt as an assembly hall for the Bletchley teacher training college. As part of this rebuild, windows were inserted in the buildings and some sections were demolished. (1)

The main teleprinter building of the Government Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park was a purpose built structure constructed of brick with a steel supporing frame. It required large power rooms and a V/F room to the south. It was built from June 1941 onwards but changed over the course of the war and was altered considerably post-war. By August 1941 offices (Hut 14) were attached with a further cipher office added in 1942 (Hut 14a). Further blast proofing is thought to have been added. The continually increasing demand for extra space for communications equipment and staff meant that a single storey extension was completed by March 1943; and an extra storey was added between November 1943 and February 1944. At the same time that the single storey extension was being built, construction was underway on further separate teleprinter space in Block E.

After the departure of the Governnment Code and Cipher School in 1946 the main element of the teleprinter buildings was initialy used by the General Post Office (GPO) as a cinema for the dual perpurpose of training and entertainment, and then substantially rebuilt in 1957 as an assembly hall for Bletchley Teacher Training College. As part of this rebuild, windows were inserted in the buildings and some sections, including the office huts were demolished.

In 1992 it became part of the Bletchley Park Trust which manages the site and from 1994 formed part of Bletchley Park National Codes Centre Museum. (2)

SOURCE TEXT

(1) Field Investigators Comments

English Heritage Cambridge Office Architectural Investigation Team May 1993

(2) Monkton, Linda; Wiliams, Andrew ; Grundon, Imogen; Barrett, Nathalie & Morrison, Kathryn 2004 Bletchley Park, Wilton Avenue, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK3 6EB. Historic Buildings Report; Architectural Investigation Reports and Papers B/010/2004

2 Page(s)443-463

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