The Defence of Winchester Project is a study which is seeking to enhance our understanding of the civil and military defence of Winchester and its environs during the Second World War.

To date, this has included carrying out an archaeological building survey of two community air-raid shelters in the city and a torpedo shed on a nearby military airfield. In addition, extensive documentary research on Winchester's civil defence programme has been conducted and oral histories have been taken from those who lived and worked in the city during the War.

Selected reports and articles from the project are available as downloadable .pdf files. An option to save these files for offline viewing appears below the report summary.

Article: Preparations for War: World War II Civil Defence in the City of Winchester

Publication: Proc. Hampshire Field Club Archaeol. Soc. 54 1999, 146-162 (Hampshire Studies 1999)
Authors: Philip Marter and Richard McConnell with contributions from Gareth Dean

Abstract: This article presents a brief overview of the civil defence programme in the City of Winchester from 1939 to 1946. It draws together some examples of the physical and documentary evidence that still survive. The focus of the article is work carried out during an archaeological survey by Context One Archaeological Services (COAS), of two extant WWII air raid shelters, beneath a car park to the rear of Winchester Public Library in Jewry Street. Documentary research has revealed the location of more than 50 additional air raid shelters and provided locations for various elements of the civil defence network constructed in the city.

Download/view full article(690kb)
(19 pages including 7 figures and 1 table)

The Torpedo Shed, Worthy Down Camp, Winchester, Hampshire.

Client: Winchester Museums Service
Project team: Kerry Ely, Phil Marter, Richard McConnell, Alex Turner (Photogtraphy)
Report authors: Phil Marter, Richard McConnell
Winchester Museums Service Site Accession No.: WINCM:AY19
COAS ref.: COAS/SBR/00/TWD

Context One Archaeological Services (COAS) carried out an archaeological building survey at the Torpedo Shed, Worthy Down Camp, Winchester, Hampshire between 24-25 March 2000. The survey was commissioned by Winchester Museums Service, and prior to the demolition of the building by the MOD.

The Torpedo Shed is located on the northern edge of the former Worthy Down Airfield, just south of South Wonston at NGR SU 47006 35535. The site covers an approximate area of 550 square metres and lies within a network of redundant storage depots and access routes around the northern perimeter of the former Worthy Down Airfield.

The Torpedo Shed forms part of a complex of military buildings dating to an early phase of local aviation history. The shed was constructed in 1929, as part a building campaign designed to enhance facilities around the airfield and served both the 'Vickers Vimy' and 'Vickers Virginia' bombers stationed at Worthy Down between the First and Second World Wars.

The site complex consists of a rectangular brick and concrete storage area and adjoining office. The storage block was divided into a series of bays designed to support racking for torpedoes. These could be manoeuvred out of the building to awaiting vehicles by a mechanical pulley system attached to the ceiling. The adjoining building was subdivided into two rooms, one housing the main generator and the other serving as an office area. The buildings are protected on all sides by a circuit of earthen banks that are breached by four concrete openings or portals at each corner. Together, these provided an access route around the complex that enabled a number of vehicles to be loaded simultaneously from four loading areas around the torpedo shed.

Despite alterations to the interior of the torpedo shed, the complex as a whole has survived remarkably well. The survey has allowed a physical record of the structure to be made prior to the buildings' destruction and provided an invaluable opportunity to understand the workings of an unusual remnant of Britain's early military aviation history.

Download/view full report (1.88mb)
(20 pages including 6 figures, 6 b&w plates and 2 appendices)

Two World War II Air-raid Shelters, Jewry Street, Winchester, Hampshire.

Client: Winchester Museums Service
Project team: Kerry Ely, Philip Marter, Richard McConnell, Alex Turner
Report authors: Philip Marter, Richard McConnell
Winchester Museums ref.: JSL 98
COAS ref.: COAS/SBR/98/JSW

An Archaeological Survey was carried out by Context One Archaeological Services (COAS) on two extant WWII air raid shelters beneath a car park to the rear of Winchester Public Library in Jewry Street.

Combined, the shelters would have accommodated 550 people but represented only part of the massive civil defence programme in Winchester during the war. Fieldwork revealed that the shelters had been stripped of nearly all their original fittings but still retained over 75 pieces of contemporary graffiti including caricatures of Hitler and Mussolini, planes and ships, as well as personal sketches, names and dates.

If you have an comments on this project or are interested in contributing to this study, please contact us at research@contextone.co.uk