Clifford Road Air Raid Shelter Museum
Clifford Road Primary School
Clifford Road
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP4 1PJ
England
Website
www.cliffordroadshelter.org.uk
enquiries@cliffordroadshelter.org.uk
Telephone
Enquiries via school office
01473 251605
Fax
01473 221224
Hidden beneath a Suffolk school playground, among quiet residential streets, the shelter provides a vivid picture of life during World War Two.
Hundreds of feet of substantial concrete tunnels were sealed up and forgotten in 1945. Thanks to their solid construction, they were in excellent condition when rediscovered over forty years later.
Venue Type:
Museum
Additional info
Access: The shelter is accessed by a steep flight of steps. It was not designed with wheelchair access in mind, but once inside, a wheelchair can be used. Please contact the museum in advance to discuss any special arrangements.
The museum takes visitors through home and school life in wartime conditions, including the difficulties of rationing, evacuation, and attempting to continue a normal life in extraordinary situations.
Further sections deal with wartime roles for both men and women, in the armed forces and civilian support. A further section of tunnel contains a section of a real 1938-built London Underground car, highlighting the importance of railways nationally, and of the use of the tube for shelter.
One section of the tunnel recreates conditions that would have existed in the shelter during the war, with dim lighting, bare concrete and wood, and the sounds of a real air raid over London.
Collection details
Social History, Weapons and War
- About
- | Collections
- | Map
