WWII Shelter

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single-storey air raid shelter built c.1940, located within the grounds of Dunbarton House (HB17/01/015A).

Constructed in concrete and underground below the main terrace on which the house sits, rendering it largely unidentifiable, except for its entrance (door now removed) on the southern side. A narrow passageway leads to an enclosed room, devoid of any decoration or detail.

Setting:

Forms part of the landscaped grounds associated with the main house (HB17/01/015A). Located to the south of the main house and submerged into a heavily vegetated knoll with low retaining dry-stone approach walls.

Roofing: Concrete/Slate/Timber
Walling: Masonry
Windows: N/A
RWG: N/A

Historical information

The Second World War air raid shelter is built of concrete and buried beneath a knoll to the south-east of the house. It does not appear on OS maps. During the War Dunbarton House was used as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers and the shelter was built for the use of the personnel and patients. (Rankin)

During World War II most of Northern Ireland was a training ground for British and American troops and there was a large concentration of army personnel based in Gilford, which with its woods, lakes and rivers and proximity to major transport routes was ideally suited to military training purposes. The army made use of Nissen Huts erected for the purpose in Gilford Castle demesne and the Orange, Masonic and Old British Legion Halls. The first British troops to arrive came shortly after the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 and most remained until early 1944 with others coming and going for short periods. According to Higgins, 297 company of the Royal Engineers was one of the battalions based in Gilford Castle demesne and the Commanding Officer of the Company was friendly with Mr Moodie, Managing Director of Gilford Mill who lived at Dunbarton House. It is this company of soldiers that built the air-raid shelter at the house, and who also cleared out a former reservoir for the mill that was situated in the grounds, converting it into a concrete swimming pool. The pool, at the time one of only two in Northern Ireland suitable for hosting international events, was widely used during and for some time after the war, but has now gone. (Higgins)

The air raid shelter was listed in 1994 as a rare surviving example of a structure built specifically for civilian protection during the war. (HB file)

References:

Primary Sources

1. HB file

Secondary Sources

1. Higgins, Beryl "Gilford During The Second World War"
2. Rankin, K “The Linen Houses of the Bann Valley, The story of their families” Belfast, Ulster Historical Foundation, 2007
3. www.wartimegilford.com

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An air raid shelter built c.1940 and of historical and military interest, as an unusual surviving example of a building type and representing part of the more recent history of Dunbarton House (HB17/01/015A). Its basic fabric and character survive and it forms part of a complex of buildings that have a notable history related to the linen industry and the Second World War.