In the centre of the rear garden of No. 27 Roman Road is a World War Two air raid shelter. Unusually, it is built entirely underground and had lain hidden beneath the level of the soil until discovered and dug out by the son of the present owner. The inside is accessed via a flight of concrete steps which descends to 6 feet below ground level. At the bottom, an entrance doorway (the door is no longer extant) leads to the single chamber constructed of curved corrugated iron sheeting braced with steel ribbing. The chamber measures 6’ long x 4’6" wide x 5’6" high. The floor is made of concrete. It can be seen that originally the steel walls were painted white but rust has now corroded much of this away. Above ground a deteriorating slab of 7" thick concrete covers part of the roof. It is probable that this concrete once covered the entire structure but over the years it has crumbled away and a large part of the corrugated iron roof sheeting can now be seen at soil level. Five photos of site.<1>

SITE ASSESSMENT:
Private air raid shelters (as opposed to military) are not generally included as a category within the World War Two Defences in Essex project and their detailed typology and survival is not known. At some time in the future, when there is more specific information on these shelters or a project to record them is undertaken, two features of the Roman Road example may be investigated. The overall size may be particularly small - current information mentions four and six berth shelters which this is surely not - and the depth of its emplacement. It is thought that private shelters were normally semi-sunken to a depth of perhaps three/four feet rather than entirely below ground level.<2>

See also <3> & <4>.