Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United Kingdom England London Audley Square Spy Lamp Post

Audley Square Spy Lamp Post

This overlooked street light once served as a KGB dead letter box.

London, England

Added By
AmunyAnkhesenra
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Base of the lamp post; the small door can be seen towards the top of the photo.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
Base of the lamp post.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
Audley Square Lamp Post, outside No. 2.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
Audley Square Lamp Post.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
The lamp post at No. 2.   JamazingClayton / Atlas Obscura User
The spy lamp post in Audley Square.   JamazingClayton / Atlas Obscura User
An address for international intrigue.   JamazingClayton / Atlas Obscura User
January 2025   DMStephenson / Atlas Obscura User
The dead letter box.   JamazingClayton / Atlas Obscura User
Audley Square KGB   vnqgrgz26z / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

London has a particular association with spies: the Special Operations Executive, MI5, MI6, 007, and all that. However, there is more to London’s espionage heritage than tuxedoed, suave operatives with a preference for how they like their martinis.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union’s KGB had numerous agents at work in London. While some could operate under diplomatic cover, many others did not. These “illegal” agents, after gathering their information, needed some way to pass it discreetly onto their KGB superiors. Their reports would be left at selected drop sites, also known as dead letter boxes.

One such dead letter box was an inconspicuous lamp post in Audley Square, just outside the University Women’s Club at No. 2. Starting in the 1950s, agents would leave their documents behind the small door to the rear of the post. To indicate there was a message waiting, a chalk mark was made near the base.

The existence of this dead letter box was only revealed to British Intelligence after the 1985 extraction of their secret agent Colonel Oleg Gordievsky from under the watchful eyes of the KGB in Moscow. In a strange coincidence, back in the early '60s No. 3 Audley Square was used as an office by Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman when they were casting the role of a certain James Bond—all the while unaware of the real-life spies who may have been lurking just outside.

Related Tags

Spies Hidden Secret Kgb Cold War Espionage Military

Know Before You Go

The lamp post itself isn't hard to find as No. 2 Audley Square is clearly signposted. (The lamp post is numbered as well.) The Embassy of Qatar is next door at No. 1. Audley Square sits at the bottom of South Audley Street which runs more-or-less parallel to Park Lane and the nearest Underground stations are Hyde Park Corner and Green Park.

Community Contributors

Added By

AmunyAnkhesenra

Edited By

JamazingClayton, SEANETTA, DMStephenson, vnqgrgz26z

  • JamazingClayton
  • SEANETTA
  • DMStephenson
  • vnqgrgz26z

Published

May 29, 2018

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Audley Square Spy Lamp Post
2 Audley Square
London, England
United Kingdom
51.50715, -0.150438
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Mount Street Gardens

London, England

miles away

Wellington Monument

London, England

miles away

Down Street Underground Station

London, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of London

London

England

Places 536
Stories 108

Nearby Places

Mount Street Gardens

London, England

miles away

Wellington Monument

London, England

miles away

Down Street Underground Station

London, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of London

London

England

Places 536
Stories 108

Related Places

  • George Street entrance to the Guardian Telephone Exchange.

    Manchester, England

    Guardian Telephone Exchange Tunnels

    This nondescript building hides an entrance to an underground nuclear tunnel system.

  • Looking out towards the Hungarian Embassy.

    Washington, D.C.

    Peirce Mill Spy Station

    Cold War intelligence agents monitored communist embassies from an attic in a former pigeon coop.

  • Sillamae, Estonia.

    Sillamäe, Estonia

    Sillamäe

    This Soviet-era "closed town" was a top secret uranium producer often left off of maps.

  • Constructing the nuclear reactor.

    Greenland

    Camp Century (Project Iceworm)

    A Cold War atomic camp buried under the ice is now emerging because of global warming.

  • Ligatne Secret Soviet Bunker

    Ligatne, Latvia

    Ligatne Secret Soviet Bunker

    A top secret Cold War bunker hidden beneath a Latvian spa facility is now open for tours.

  • The site of Pitt’s first assignation with his KGB handler.

    New York, New York

    The Wertheim Study

    This study room in the New York Public Library saw the creation of one of contemporary America's greatest traitors.

  • One of the crosses viewed from a Google satellite.

    Casa Grande, Arizona

    Corona ‘Satellite Calibration Targets’

    Rumor had it that these concrete crosses scattered across the Arizona scrubland helped align spy satellites. (They didn’t.)

  • Bunker-703. Vault No1.

    Moscow, Russia

    Bunker-703

    A former special storage facility for documents during the Cold War.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.