Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Codes Centre and the National Museum of Computing. During the Second World War, Bletchley Park was the site of the United Kingdom's main decryption establishment, the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), where ciphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted, most importantly the ciphers generated by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines. It also housed Station X, a secret radio intercept station,and also a message sending station. Although interception was soon moved to a location with better reception. "Station X", "London Signals Intelligence Centre" and "Government Communications Headquarters" were all cover names that were used during the war, and the latter (GCHQ) was adopted for the successor peacetime organisation that still bears this name. For the many members of the Women's Royal Naval Service (Wrens) who worked at Bletchley Park, their posting was to HMS Pembroke V.
The high-level intelligence produced at Bletchley Park, codenamed Ultra, provided crucial assistance to the Allied war effort. Sir Harry Hinsley, a Bletchley veteran and the official historian of British Intelligence during the Second World War, said that Ultra shortened the war by two to four years and that the outcome of the war would have been uncertain without it.
A large portion of the site is now controlled by the Bletchley Park Trust. The National Museum of Computing, an independent voluntary organisation, rents space from the Trust to house its collection of historic computers. The museum is run by the Codes and Ciphers Heritage Trust (an independent registered charity) and is open to the public. It receives no Government or regional funding, or any of the Trust’s visitor or facility rental fees. The Bletchley Park Science and Innovation Centre (BPSIC) refurbished some of the historic structures and occupies part of the former code-breaker buildings. The site also houses the National Codes Centre. The main manor house is available for functions and is licensed for ceremonies. Part of the fees for hiring the facilities go to the Trust to maintain the site. Since 1967, Bletchley has been part of the town of Milton Keynes.
Read more about Bletchley Park: Early History, Second World War, After The War, Other Museum Attractions, Funding Needs, In Popular Culture
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