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GCHQ is one of Britain's three major Intelligence Agencies. GCHQ works in partnership with the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) to protect UK national security interests. GCHQ is responsible for providing Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance. Its main customers are the UK Government and the British Armed Forces.


GCHQ was founded during World War I as the Government Code & Cypher School (GC&CS). During World War II (WWII), GC&CS established a major codebreaking operation at Bletchley Park (BP), which is now a museum. Immediately after the war, in 1946, it was renamed GCHQ and relocated to Eastcote. In 1951, GCHQ moved to a new premises in Cheltenham, where the organization is still located today.


The image on the right shows the current GCHQ headquearters in Cheltenham (UK) at the point where the building was nearly finished in 2003. The building is nicknamed 'the Doughnut'.   

GCHQ has offices at the following locations:


  • Cheltenham

    Headquarters

  • Scarborough

    Signals intelligence site

  • Bude

    Telecommunications data collection site

  • Manchester

    High-tech offices

  • London

    National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) 1

  1. In the past, GCHQ also used (secret) offices on Palmer Street, where they resided for 66 years [5].



     

2004

  

2018



Although GCHQ is a secret - and therefore rather closed- organisation, they present themselves to the general public every now and then, and provide information about their work, their responsibilities and their history. GCHQ was, for example, one of the major sponsors of the Enigma Reunion 2009 at Bletchley Park, where they exhibited a number of rare cipher machines and methods. ➤ More about the Enigma Reunion 2009   

  1. GCHQ website
    Retrieved September 2009.

  2. Frederic Andre, Photographs of Enigma Reunion 2009
    Retrieved from (former) Website. 5-6 September 2009.

  3. Kevin Coleman, Photographs of Enigma Reunion 2009
    Personal correspondence. November 2009.

  4. GCHQ, New GCHQ logo
    30 April 2018.

  5. GCHQ Reveals Secret London Site
    GCHQ website, 5 April 2019.