Houghton-le-Spring, Hillside Cemetery, air raid shelter

HER Number:
15967

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Houghton-le-Spring, Hillside Cemetery, air raid shelter

Place:
Houghton-le-Spring

Map Sheet:
NZ35SW

Class:
Defence

Site Type: Broad:
Civil Defence Site

Site Type: Specific:
Air Raid Shelter

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Ruined Building

Description:
This air raid shelter was built by Houghton Urban District Council, during World War Two along with many others, for those people who had not got an Anderson shelter. The shelter would have been used by the cemetery keeper and his family and anyone who happened to be in the cemetery during an air raid. Four bombs were dropped on Houghton Cut in July 1940. After the War the shelter was used for tool storage. Brick with a reinforced concrete roof. 2.7m x 2.08m in plan and 1.92m high. The roof is 16cm thick.

Easting:
3441

Northing:
5042

Grid Reference:
NZ34415042

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Paul Lanagan, 2008, Houghton's Last Air Raid Shelter, www.houghtonlespring.org.uk/worldwar2; Paul Lanagan, 2013, Air-raid shelters offered sanctuary from bombs, article in Seaham and Houghton Star, Wednesday 18 September 2013