Air Raid Precaution Centre

An Air Raid Precaution Centre built in 1938. Constructed of concrete, approximately 2 metres thick and set about 1.2 metres below ground level as a half basement, the bunker is rectangular in plan, with its long axis running east-west. The corners are chamfered except for the southwest corner. The walls exhibit crude construction with visible shuttering lines and show some shrapnel damage, particularly to the west face. Steps lead down from the south corner and west face into an air lock containing a pair of steel doors with portholes and rubber gaskets, retaining original design features. A corridor runs along the south wall, providing access to a Messenger's Room, a Telephone Room, and at the east end, a Supervisor's Office and a Map Room. A short, fixed ladder in the east wall of the Supervisor's Office and Map Room leads to a circular escape hatch to the air lock; the outer lock door has been removed. A Store Room and a Machine Room are located at the west end and entered off the Messenger’s Room. The Machine Room contains original plant for air supply and purification, as well as an emergency electricity supply, with ventilator ducts running to the rest of the bunker along the north wall. Original equipment remains including a pedal-driven electric generator constructed with a twin bicycle frame, tiered air filter units manufactured by Sutcliffe Speakman and Co., Ltd. of Leigh, Lancashire, and a battery control unit made by the Chloride Electrical Storage Co. Ltd., linked to a floor-standing chest containing a 12-volt battery for emergency lighting and heating. Two 12-volt light fittings are still in the ceiling. The overlying flat-roofed structure, built of brick, has undergone significant alterations, with the earliest sections being to the south. The concrete roof throughout the upper floor displays shuttering lines. The Rossendale Street ARPC functioned as the northern report centre within a system also including the main centre located beneath Hackney Town Hall, used to coordinate information about bombing raids and for the deployment of teams for emergency rescue and repair work.