Concealed Air Raid Shelter

Introduction

The photograph on this page of Concealed Air Raid Shelter by Tony Atkin as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

Concealed Air Raid Shelter

Image: © Tony Atkin Taken: 2 Dec 2006

This is a part of the northern side of Devonport Park. The grass conceals an old World War II air-raid shelter which could have held several hundred people. The far end of the shelter is at the break in slope beneath the trees and the front edge is at the steep slope behind the fence. The shelter was one of several in Devonport Park which is and was the only substantial green area in a highly populated area of town. This shelter would have been built as a series of long corridors with wooden benches separated by thick walls. There was very little protection from above, but the internal layout would have limited the casualties had a bomb dropped directly on the shelter. At the end of the war the entrances to the shelters in the park were covered up and they were simply left as they were.

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