NHER 31205 (Monument record) - World War Two air raid shelter, Kettlewell Recreation Ground

Air raid shelter.
Long barrel vaulted structure of flint and brick protruding from ground in small park. Though said locally to be a water cistern, source [1] states that this is an air raid shelter mentioned in the borough guide, and that the council refused her access to documents about it under the Official Secrets Act.
(S1) in file.
E. Rose (NLA), 2 June 1995.

Use as air raid shelter confirmed from correspondence in file.

July 2012.
A 50/100 person, semi-sunken Air Raid Shelter located in Kettlewell Recreation Ground. The shelter is aligned north to south, parallel to the remaining city wall (NHER 5486), with the entrance facing east. Constructed from curved Rolled Steel Joists (RSJ’s) and reinforced concrete with large flint inclusions, this shelter has been constructed to a local council design but modified to incorporate two of the shelters into one structure. Shelters of this type were often constructed from pre-formed concrete sections rather than poured concrete making this example rather unique. The shelter also has an escape hatch situated on top of the northern chamber.
The method of construction has been the use of wooden shuttering to form a mould with the concrete poured in stages and reinforced with thin Reinforcement Bars. The structure is also further reinforced with RSJ’s.
The shelter has now been blocked up to stop unwanted access and evidence suggests that the structure is not complete. The bricked up chamber on the southern face of the shelter and the presence of a cut down RSJ on the surface indicate that another chamber, similar to the northern chamber, extended from this wall. This modification was most likely implemented to increase the capacity of the shelter to around 100 people. This section has been demolished and it is likely that the robust concrete construction deterred further demolition.
The Council plans for the shelter suggest that it would have originally had a top covering of earth to further protect it from shrapnel and bomb blasts as is standard with semi-sunken shelter types.
C. Kolonko (HES), 9 July 2012.