TWENTIETH CENTURY DEFENCE SITES of TYNE and WEAR

Section 3 The Second World War
work started in 1907 and was completed in
1911. It cost £23,000 to build. Workers broke
into a lagoon of gravel which had to be
scraped out and filled with concrete before
the construction of the culvert could be
continued. While the culvert was under
construction the burn was diverted into
millraces. When the culvert was finished the
burn was diverted back through it. It was
used as air raid shelter in WW2. It could seat
up to 3000 people and had its own sick bay.
A copy of the Council’s Air Raid Precaution
plan, including information on the use of the
culvert and the Victoria Tunnel, survives in
Tyne and Wear Archives. In the 1970s the
wartime entrance to the culvert was boarded
over to create an outdoor riding arena. Today
the culvert still carries the Ouseburn and part
of the sewer system (Ayris and Linsley 1995
and Ouseburn Heritage magazine).
69 Newcastle, The Side
(HER 7679)
A two-storey air raid shelter was
archaeologically recorded in 1998. The
exterior walls were stone and brick built, with
a concrete render on the roadside elevation.
The floor and roof were of reinforced
concrete. The shelter was supplied with a
louvred ventilator (Bill Hopper Design 1997
and Northern Counties Archaeological
Services 1998).
70 Newcastle, Melbourne Street,
Manors Tramway Generating
Station (HER 1911)
The Tramways Offices and Power Station
were designed by Benjamin Simpson and
59
constructed between 1901 and 1904. A wellpreserved
Second World War air-raid shelter
of brick with steel blast doors and internal
hatches survives in the basement. The depot
was recorded before being converted into
the City Church (Northern Counties
Archaeological Services 2001). There are
similar shelters in the Bruce Store at the
Museum of Antiquities, University of
Newcastle upon Tyne.
71 Newcastle, Charlotte Square
(HER 7071)
A watching brief during the restoration of
Charlotte Square revealed the partially
demolished remains of a Second World War
air raid shelter. It was typical of the Covered
Trench Shelter design of 1939 - constructed
of prefabricated concrete panels which linked
together at the base, sides and roof, to form
a concrete oblong box. It was accessed by a
flight of steps from the surface (Garrett
2004).
Reproduced with permission from Tyne & Wear
Museums Archaeology Department
72 Newcastle, Gallowgate
(HER 6436)
In 1939 two narrow blocks of air-raid shelters
were built against the eastern side of the bus
depot and in the narrow space between the
buildings and the town wall, presumably
taking advantage of the blast protection
offered by the medieval masonry. The
shelters had 12 inch thick reinforced
concrete walls and roof and external blast