Across the country hundreds of air raid shelters were built at the outbreak of World War Two, both above and beneath the surface with the majority built across the South-East. We’ve visited two shelters, one by the coast and the other down the road in Broadstairs. We haven’t published the location of these shelters to protect them.

Seaside

This small shelter, close to the coast, is like most others and includes toilets which would have been separated by doors. The shelter would have been bigger although it’s been bricked up since they closed. It’s likely that this would have been a public shelter, rather than private, due to a rare original poster that still survives.

Broadstairs

Built to hold up to 130 people, it’s likely that this shelter would have held many more, mostly council staff. The network of tunnels have two different designs – reinforced concrete and pre-cast concrete planks. It’s thought that the difference could be down to the depth of the shelter, or expansion of them.