Cryptography firm steps in to save Bletchley Park

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 9 Sep 2008 at 08:57

Two technology firms have donated cash to the ailing Bletchley Park site, the epicentre of British wartime efforts to break cryptographic codes. Ironically, one is itself a provider of encryption tools.

The Victorian mansion housed cryptographic researchers such as Alan Turing during World War 2, and was the location of the earliest digital computer, Colossus.

However, in recent years the site has fallen on hard times, with staff claiming it to be in a "desperate state of decay". It is estimated that the buildings need around £1 million in restoration work.

The security software firm PGP will be donating cash, along with IBM, and it is hoped that further technology firms will step in to contribute the rest of the necessary funds to preserve what is in essence the historical birthplace of modern computing. A website for the fundraising project has been set up on the PGP website.

Support for the site until now has been impressive, but somewhat lacking in liquid funds. A call for funding from the nation's top computer scientists was given, and a petition to the Government gained over 14,000 signatures. The Bletchley Park website was also set up with a donations page, allowing direct contributions from the public.

The Park has in the past been turned down for both National Lottery and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants.