Hidden air raid shelter could become Bristol Blitz museum

Duncan McKellar opens one door with a set of keys, pushes another and then walks down a set of stairs into one of the most astonishing spaces in Bristol.

This space is even more amazing because it is so close to where thousands of people walk by and work every single day without even knowing it is here.

Underneath St Nick’s Market is a former air raid shelter used during the Second World War. It remains mostly hidden for now but Duncan has ambitious plans to turn it into a museum and experience to remember the Bristol Blitz, in which 1,299 people were killed.

Duncan already leads tours down into the space on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays but would love to see the former shelter once again full of people.

When not leading the tours, he has spent hours clearing up decades of gathered detritus and bringing down items from the period including helmets, gas masks and maps, and even a replica incendiary bomb which caused so much damage on the streets above.

A collection of items that could one day form part of a museum

On a recent Saturday afternoon after one of his tours, Duncan takes a seat in what used to be the underground city valuers bar during the 1950s, where members of bands like the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and the Who might have drunk after performing at the Corn Exchange upstairs – but that’s another story.

“We have the biggest public air raid shelter in the city centre that is finally now for the first time open to the public.

“We are running tours at the moment with the long-term plan to establish a museum which will preserve and display the air raid shelter, not just Bristol’s important history but national heritage.

“And it’s home front which I think is particularly interesting because everyone who has family links in Bristol will have a link to what happened here and what is now on display here.”

Brick walls were built in the 18th century cellar to create the air raid shelter

During the tours, Duncan shows artefacts relating to wartime home front activity focussing on medical equipment, warning signals, bells and rattles, and rationing – as well as greeting a ghost called Margaret.

On November 24 1940, the heart of Bristol’s old town was destroyed with the densely packed area in what is now Castle Park engulfed in flames.

It is sobering to think that men, women and children were sheltering here that same night and then would have emerged from this very air raid shelter just a few yards away from that devastation, with only the shells of St Mary le Port Church and St Peter’s Church now remaining.

Duncan tells the story of a false alarm earlier that same day when a reconnaisance plane flew over the city and caused the sirens to go off, with people – many of who would have been in town shopping – heading down into the shelter before the all clear, with 186 German bombers returning that night.

The air raid shelter under the Corn Exchange was the largest public shelter in the city centre

“People do not know that this is here and it is crying out to be shown,” says Duncan, an artist by trade who is known for his sculptures across Bristol made from yellow scaffolding pole protectors.

“I would love that a Bristol Blitz experience could become a top-three tourist attraction in Bristol next to the SS Great Britain and Suspension Bridge. Why not?

“If an entrance on Exchange Avenue could be opened up and a sign put above the door, this space could be staffed, there would be a couple of actors, you would have an hour on your timed ticket to walk through, see the memorabilia and watch a five-minute film.

“It is already amazing. I have had people welling up. The amount of people who have got a family story is incredible.”

To book a place on Duncan’s tour, visit www.st-nickstours.com. To discover more about the Old City and Castle Park, book a walking tour with Martin Booth: www.yuup.co/experiences/explore-bristol-s-quirkiest-corners

These entrances on Exchange Avenue could one day in the future be the place to enter the Bristol Blitz experience and museum

All photos: Martin Booth

Read next:

• 21 photos of the devastation caused by the Bristol Blitz
• Remembering 80 years since the start of the Bristol Blitz
• In photos: St Nick’s Market
• Most ambitious work yet from unique Bristol artist

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: