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All the United Kingdom England London St. Leonard’s Court Air Raid Shelter

St. Leonard’s Court Air Raid Shelter

This small, round building is the entrance to a bomb shelter built in anticipation of World War II.

London, England

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sarickwood
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The entrance to the air raid shelter.   sarickwood / Atlas Obscura User
The interior of the shelter. Men and women had separate rooms.   sarickwood / Atlas Obscura User
Reading light bulb - an original fixture for one of the dorm beds.   sarickwood / Atlas Obscura User
Original interior fixtures of the shelter.   sarickwood / Atlas Obscura User
Chemical toilet serving one of the dormitories.   sarickwood / Atlas Obscura User
Entrance   nedavis166 / Atlas Obscura User
  nedavis166 / Atlas Obscura User
Original homemade ‘lampshades’   nedavis166 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Many new blocks of flats come with communal features to attract buyers, but an air raid shelter able to hold 48 people is rarely one of them. In 1938, the builders of a new residential block of flats in Mortlake, South West London, must have sensed which way world affairs were going, because they decided to build just such a shelter under the lawn of St Leonard’s Court. The architect, F.G. Fox, was prescient: the shelter was soon in active service as the Blitz saw London bombed nightly, with railway lines, one right next to the flats, a particular target.

What is even more remarkable is that this air raid shelter still survives, a time capsule of what it would have been like to live in London through World War II, and it can be visited on occasion (it is also opened to local schools). The outward sign of the shelter is a small cylindrical brick building with a conical roof, but the main interest (and step back in time) lies down narrow steps–a set of long rooms (men and women were separated), low-ceilinged and musty. The original air raid shelter fixtures remain, including benches, beds, coat hooks and reading light bulbs, even the original chemical toilets (a sign that this was a superior air raid shelter- most had buckets).

The shelter does not look like a nice place to spend the night, and indeed it is rumored that some residents of the flats chose to take their chances in their own beds rather than sleep there. The local area of Mortlake and Sheen endured multiple bombings through the war, with many houses hit and some completely destroyed, but this shelter survived intact, and then it was proposed to be converted into apartments to become a Grade II listed monument in 2010. It is now conserved by a number of local organizations and is opened to the public on occasions such as the London Open House festival.

Related Tags

Bombs Monuments Landmarks World War Ii

Know Before You Go

The entrance to the air raid shelter is easily viewable at the entrance to St Leonard’s Court. It is not generally open to the public except on occasions such as London Open House week, or locally advertised events, which may require booking. It is close to Mortlake Railway Station which is on the line direct to Waterloo station in central London.

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Added By

sarickwood

Edited By

psychump, nedavis166

  • psychump
  • nedavis166

Published

November 3, 2022

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St. Leonard’s Court Air Raid Shelter
St Leonard's Road
East Sheen SW14
London, England, SW14 7NG
United Kingdom
51.467418, -0.269728
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