Former First World War Air Raid Shelter to the rear of 8 Bredfield Road, Woodbridge

First World War air raid shelter, built around 1915 by William Marjoram.

MATERIALS: of concrete with the entrance chamber being of knapped flint with a concrete tile roof.

PLAN: the above ground entrance chamber stands on a north-east to south-west alignment and is rectangular-on-plan. The underground shelter is cylindrically shaped.

EXTERIOR: the shelter's entrance chamber is in the form of a gabled outbuilding with concrete quoins to knapped flint walls and a deep concrete-coped gable to a concrete-tiled roof. Its entrance is in the north-east gable end wall and comprises a wooden door set beneath a triangular-pedimented concrete hood.

The earthen ground above the dome of the shelter, which lies immediately to the north-north-west of the entrance chamber, is raised around 1 metre above the level of the surrounding ground surface and is revetted with concrete and masonry blocks and concrete kerb edging. Standing on the raised ground surface is a chimney pot which is filled with concrete and conceals a cast-iron downpipe which was used as a ventilation duct. A second cast-iron downpipe, also used as a ventilation duct, stands at the north-north-west edge of the raised ground surface.

INTERIOR: a small hole in the floor of the entrance chamber provides access to a thirteen-step spiral staircase which descends to a narrow tunnel measuring 1.2m long by 0.9m high by 0.5m wide. The tunnel leads to a cylindrically-shaped shelter with a domed roof with a maximum height of 2.7m at its centre. The walls of the shelter are constructed from curved concrete blocks and has a bench seat running round its circumference. Scriptures from the Old Testament are etched into the concrete walls of the entrance chamber and one row of blocks in the shelter.