There were school trenches at Simon Langton School from an early date, and a number of surface shelters were added subsequently. By the start of the Second World War ‘trenches, estimated to last twenty years, had begun to deface the Girl’s garden and tennis court, unearthing, in the process massive chalk foundations of the White Friary.’ The trench shelters seem to have been concentrated on this side of the site. They seem to have been concrete-lined, entered by flights of stairs, and sufficient to accommodate 190 scholars and staff. At some point, the shelters were made available to members of the public outside school hours. The entrance to the shelters on the girls’ side of the school was from St George’s Street; that to the shelters on the boy’s side was from Gravel Walk. A contributor to the BBC’s ‘People’s War’ online project recalled a ‘shelter at the St. George's Street end behind what was then the Scotch Wool Shop’ (possibly number 48). At some point, possibly in late 1941 when the school returned from evacuation, a number of brick-built surface shelters were provided; they were extant by the time of the ‘Baedeker’ raid on 1 June 1942. Such a shelter can be seen, amidst the bombed-out school buildings, in a photograph reproduced in Front-Line School (see sources). Remains of the school trench shelters were uncovered in the recent ‘Whitefriars’ excavations, but information is not yet available; they may have been extended very dramatically at some point. All trace has probably been removed by the recent ‘Whitefriars’ redevelopment.
Owner : Unknown
Publicly accessible : Unknown
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Canterbury City Council Emergency Committee, 01/01/39, Canterbury City Council Emergency Committee Minute Books 1 to 6 (Unpublished document). SKE14934.

Canterbury City Council Emergency Committee, 01/01/39, Canterbury City Council Emergency Committee Minute Books 1 to 6 (Unpublished document). Ske14934.

Anon., 01/01/50, Front-line school : the war-time story of the Simon Langton Boys' School, Canterbury, Kent (Bibliographic reference). SKE14935.

Anon., 01/01/50, Front-line school : the war-time story of the Simon Langton Boys' School, Canterbury, Kent (Bibliographic reference). Ske14935.