TWENTIETH CENTURY DEFENCE SITES of TYNE and WEAR

Section 3 The Second World War
Type B shelter could be converted into a
cycle shed. A similar plan shows eight
proposed shelters at Heaton School, which
could accommodate 60 children (Ripley and
Pears 1994-2006, Mauchlen and Weightman
April 1940, Pendower Elementary and
Central Schools, Newcastle – Proposed Air
Raid Shelters for 720 children, NRO 4720/B/
256, Northumberland Record Office).
75 Byker, St Lawrence Ropery
(HER 7075)
A covered trench shelter was recorded
during an archaeological evaluation at St.
Lawrence Ropery (HER 5142). The shelter
was 13.6m in length, 1.60m in width and 2m
in height. It was built of pre-fabricated
concrete panels, which self-linked together at
the base, sides and roof, to form a
rectangular concrete structure. It was
accessed by an entrance at its north-western
end, which linked to the interior of the ropery
building or to the footpath (Mabbitt 2004).
Reproduced with permission from Tyne & Wear
Museums Archaeology Department
61
76 Throckley Middle School, Air
Raid Shelter (HER 5478)
This World War Two air raid shelter was built
to the north east of the late-nineteenth
century school. Originally, there would have
been a series of similar shelters on the
northern edge of the school yard, but all the
others have now been demolished. The
shelter was a simple rectangular shape, with
brick walls and a heavy concrete roof. The
shelter is approximately 2.6m high, 6m long,
and 3.5m wide, and is very similar in design
to the communal brick and concrete surface
shelters first authorised in August 1939,
although public shelters were larger, being
designed to hold 50 people. Like Anderson
shelters, these brick and concrete
constructions were not designed to withstand
a direct hit from a bomb, since protecting
them this heavily would have been
prohibitively expensive. Instead, they were
intended to offer protection against the
secondary effects of bombs falling nearby,
such as falling rubble and shrapnel. Although
such shelters undoubtedly saved many lives,
there were occasional tragedies caused by
the lack of total bomb protection: when the
Lodge Terrace shelter in Sunderland (of a
similar brick and concrete construction to the
one in Throckley) received a direct hit from a
250kg bomb, it collapsed, killing twelve and
injuring ten more. The Throckley example
has been converted into an electricity
substation (Telford 2003).
Reproduced with permission from Pre-Construct
Archaeology