Building record 1160/0/88 - Herbert Street Communal Air Raid Shelter

{1} Surface shelters in Herbert Street ie communal above ground brick shelters each accommodating about 50 people. "unfortunately an ambiguously worded memorandum issued by the central air raid precautions department persuaded many local people that a suitable mortar for use in such shelters could be made from lime and sand with no cement. The result was that throughout the country shelters collapsed from the effects of inclement weather rather than enemy action." In N'ton 950 shelters out of 1,255 had to be reconstructed, 534 being completed by 1941. "On the second occasion the mortar used was so strong that when the shelters were demolished in 1946, the bricks, not the mortar, broke and could not be easily re-used for other building purposes."

<1> 1978, Northamptonshire At War 1939-45, A Selection Of Photographs, (unchecked) (Book). SNN100251.

<2> Cadman G., 2014, 20th Century Military Archaeology in Northamptonshire: Logs 1, 2 & 3, (checked) (Report). SNN104868.

Record last edited

Apr 27 2005 12:51PM