Market Place ARP Wardens Post, Reading

 Situated in the centre of Market Place outside the Former Barclays Banks lays a derelict ARP Wardens Post, not many know its there but it is...!!! 

I was lucky to see this one, as work was going on converting the building into a Burger Bar, when this was ongoing i noticed something rather bizarre outside it which was a hole with steps going down, so i checked it out and got this shot.

Not the best of shots but at the end of the day its a shot!!! i didnt have my camera with me sadly at the time.

I got home after that and researched what could have been there, it turns out its on the site of a old ARP Wardens Post, now being used to carry water and drainage through pipes!

                                                          Inside the ARP Shelter
                                             An old photo of the exterior (Now Demolished) 

This A.R.P. shelter in Market Place, Reading is probably the one of those visited by a Berkshire Chronicle reporter in October 1939. An existing cellar was strengthened for use as a public shelter. At this time the capacity of shelters in Reading town centre was around 1,600 but this was confidently expected to double when the building works in progress were completed.

This photograph was published in the Berkshire Chronicle on 29 September 1939.


***UPDATE 2021 CONSTRUCTION WORK HAS COMMENCED MEANING ACCESS WAS GRANTED***



 

Location: Market Pl, Reading RG1, UK

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