Secrets & Espionage

Where the state kept its secrets and where the spies were made up: the bugged mansion, the bunkers, the headquarters you can only look at, the memorials to the agents, and the addresses of Bond and Smiley.

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Old Admiralty Building: Room 40 and Room 39

Where the Navy broke Germany's codes in the first war and where Ian Fleming spent the second, at the desk in Room 39 that gave him M and the Secret Service.

HeadquartersBond & SmileyFree

Room 40 of the Old Admiralty decoded the German naval signals of 1914 to 1918, including the Zimmermann telegram that brought America into the war, and became the ancestor of Bletchley and GCHQ; Room 39 next door was the Naval Intelligence Division's outer office, where Commander Ian Fleming worked for Admiral Godfrey from 1939 to 1945, ran Operation Goldeneye and planned the assault unit whose exploits he later gave to Bond. The red-brick and stone building of 1905 on the Horse Guards Parade side is the one; the doors stay shut.

Where
Whitehall, SW1A 2DY
Nearest station
Charing Cross · 3 min walk

A government building; seen from Horse Guards Parade and the Mall.

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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