A timber-lined public trench air-raid shelter was excavated on ‘Blore’s Piece’ during the Munich Crisis of late September 1938. Blore’s Piece (also known as Blore’s Field) was part of the King’s School’s playing fields on the west side of St Stephen’s Road. The Blore in question was the well-known William Blore, of 20 St Stephen’s Road, opposite. The Home Office had not yet published its standard specification for permanent shelters, and shelters of this date could be difficult subsequently to upgrade to the specified standard. In mid March 1939, plans were drawn up to make the Blore’s Piece shelters permanent - probably by lining them with concrete. The King’s School agreed to this on the (rather optimistic) conditions that the ‘work was not in any way to interfere with the use of the playing fields ... [; that] the trenches and ground were to be left tidy and neat ... [and that the] moved earth was to be sown with grass seed and maintained ... free from weeds.’ The improved shelter was had been completed by the end of October (when its entrance arrangements were reported faulty), and was approved for use in mid-January 1940. The provision, at this time, seems to have housed somewhat over 400 persons. The shelter was extended, to house a further 393, early in 1941, as part of a scheme to provide universal civilian air-raid shelter provision in the city. At the end of January 1942 the Blore’s Field shelter was listed as providing shelter for 810 persons. This extensive complex is clearly visible on immediate post-war aerial photographs, at the southern end of the recreation ground.
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential :
Condition : Destroyed
Date of visit :

Canterbury City Council Emergency Committee, 01/01/39, Canterbury City Council Emergency Committee Minute Books 1 to 6 (Unpublished document). SKE14872.

Canterbury City Council Emergency Committee, 01/01/39, Canterbury City Council Emergency Committee Minute Books 1 to 6 (Unpublished document). Ske14872.

Williamson C., 01/01/46, Though the Streets Burn (Bibliographic reference). SKE14873.

Williamson C., 01/01/46, Though the Streets Burn (Bibliographic reference). Ske14873.