Second World War, Upminster Report Centre, including a gas cleansing station and other civil defence buildings

Summary

A Second World War, Air Raid Precautions report centre of around 1939-1944, by Douglas E Hart.

Reasons for Designation

The Upminster Report Centre, a Second World War, Air Raid Precautions report centre (including the gas cleansing station, ARP stores, canteen hut and two air raid shelters) of around 1939-1944, by Douglas E Hart, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
 
Architectural interest:
 
* as a rare surviving example of a Second World War report centre, including a gas cleansing station for personnel and AFS vehicles, ARP stores, canteen and two air raid shelters;
 
* the complex is well preserved and the buildings retain a number of their fittings and a largely intact plan form, with the gas cleansing station centre surviving sufficiently for the flow of the decontamination process to be read in the structure;
 
* although the buildings are functional, the permanent structures are well built and include design details such as fletton brickwork, concrete roofs, steel-I beam frames and high-set clerestory windows or vents, to minimise injury from an external blast.
 
Historic interest:
 
* as a tangible reminder of the threat of air attack and chemical warfare and the precautions prepared for the protection of Britain’s civilian population during the Second World War; 
 
* as an important surviving example of the war effort on the Home Front, illustrating how the various organisations responsible for civil defence could be co-located, maximising efficiency and offering reassurance and protection in the event of attack.

History

The Air Raid Precautions Act of 1937 placed a statutory obligation on local government to provide shelter and anti-gas precautions. The Upminster Report Centre (URC) was designed to provide an integrated civil defence response to air attack during the Second World War as part of the Hornchurch Urban District, which included three other centres (two demolished and one Harrow Lodge, substantially altered). The URC was responsible for the area adjacent to RAF Hornchurch, a key fighter base in the defence of the United Kingdom.
 
The brick buildings were designed by the Local Authority Surveyor, Douglas E Hart. The gas cleansing station (GCS) was laid out to facilitate the chemical cleansing of vehicles and around 60 personnel at a time. It was solidly built in brick with steel I-beams and had a reinforced concrete roof in order to survive an air attack. Contaminated persons would wash their footwear in a bleach tray then pass through an airlock to an undressing area. After an eye douche and shower for decontamination they would redress and exit via a second airlock. The garages were also used by the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and included a covered forecourt (now demolished). The adjacent Air Raid Precautions (ARP) stores would have been used for telephoning in reports, the storage of rescue equipment and for the issuance of stores such as gas masks.
 
The canteen hut was probably provided by the Goddard Gem Appliance Company who supplied a tender for a total of 11 sectional huts. It is the only surviving temporary building on the site and would have provided respite to the AFS and ARP personnel. ARP personnel were predominantly volunteers and responsible for the guarding of downed aircraft and unexploded bombs, the rescue of personnel caught up in an attack and the plotting of local bomb damage. The AFS provided a fire fighting capability between 1939 and 1941, before the creation of the National Fire Service. Although there was no recorded gas attack in United Kingdom during the Second World War, there were many aerial bombing attacks and nationwide, almost 7,000 ARP personnel were killed on active duty. In London, 357 London firefighters lost their lives.
 
The two above ground air raid shelters to the south of the site would have collectively housed around 100 persons and may also have been used by children from the adjacent Sacred Heart of Mary Girl's School.
 
Aerial photographs from the Second World War show three, long and linear surface buildings located to the centre of the site on what is now the car park and the covered forecourt ahead of the garages. The long and linear surface buildings are no longer shown on an aerial image of 1952, but the covered forecourt is still in situ, so was therefore demolished after this date. The surviving buildings have had a number of minor alterations including the removal of the exit airlock door from the GCS and the fixtures associated with the cleansing process. Some openings have also been infilled and partitioning has been added internally.

Details

A Second World War Air Raid Precautions report centre of around 1939-1944, built to the designs of Douglas E Hart, the Local Authority Surveyor.

MATERIALS: concrete, steel I-beams, brick and timber boarding.

PLAN: the site consists of five buildings; from the north, an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) office and stores, an ARP canteen to the north-east, a gas cleansing station (GCS) to the centre and two air raid shelters to the south.

Gas Cleansing Station (GCS)

EXTERIOR: the building has Fletton brick elevations laid in English bond, under a flat concrete roof. The openings mostly have brick, segmental arches. The building is L-shaped in plan with a square water tower towards the east end, where the roof oversails and is supported by two brick pillars, joined by an I-beam. This creates an open-sided porch which has a high-set, four-light, metal-framed window and an entry airlock door located to the south side. The west elevation has a small brick porch containing a solid timber door (formerly the exit airlock). The north side elevation has regular, high-set metal casement windows and at the base of the water tower there is a solid timber door and a metal disc inserted into the concrete, inscribed with the War Department symbol (a crows foot). The garage section faces east and has two later C20 roller doors and a open fronted store. The south side elevation is blind but includes infilled window openings. The west wall to the rear of the garages has three, high-set casement windows and the shadow line of a demolished external chimney stack.

INTERIOR: the interior is functional and has a later partition wall running along the north side creating changing rooms. The showers have a raised concrete floor and along with the toilets, appear to be in their original location. A steel I-beam frame supports the exposed concrete roof. The supporting columns have carriers attached, which may have been for stretchers or seating. The water tower contains a metal water tank and hot water cylinder and the location of the boiler (removed) is evidenced by pipework and the flue.

ARP office and stores

EXTERIOR: the building is of a similar design to the GCS but rectangular in plan. At the east end, the roof oversails in a similar fashion. The porch below, has an airlock door located to the centre under a concrete lintel. The west elevation has an infilled window and door. The north side elevation has a timber, two-light transom window (covered over) and the south elevation has an added entrance with steel door, to the west end. Both side elevations have high-sets vents along their length.

INTERIOR: the interior is functional and consists of two interconnected rooms. The smaller room to the east side is part-plastered and probably housed a counter. The larger room to the west is faced in blockwork and would have held ARP stores.

Canteen

EXTERIOR: the canteen is a small hut-like building which is rectangular in plan. The side elevations are timber-boarded and appear to be made from prefabricated panels. The gable ends are built of flat brick in stretcher bond under timber bargeboards. The late-C20 entrance door is towards the eastern side of the southern gable end. There are two, three-light transom casements to the symmetrical east elevation. The pitched roof has a short, central ridge stack with two clay pots.

INTERIOR: there are two rooms connected by a four-panel timber door to the west side of a central chimney breast. The fireplaces are built of brick under a timber mantle and have a planked cupboard to the east side. The ceiling of the southern room is open to the apex and has a high-set collar with central strut. The smaller room to the north has a suspended ceiling.

Air raid shelters

EXTERIOR: the long linear shelters are built of flat-faced brick laid in an English bond, under flat, concrete roofs. There are no windows. The southernmost shelter has a late C20 door to the eastern end. The other has a doorway to the east end of the north elevation and another on the west elevation.

INTERIOR: not inspected but thought to be arranged as a long and linear room or rooms.

Sources

Books and journals
Brown, I et al, 20th Century Defences in Britain, (1996), 88-91
Moshenska, G, The Archaeology of the Second World War, (2013), 116-20

Websites
Historic England Introduction to Heritage Assets - Civil Defence - From the First World War to the Cold War, accessed 23/12/22 from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-civil-defence/
London Fire Brigade Website, accessed 4/1/2023 from https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/museum/history-and-stories/firefighters-of-the-second-world-war/
Spartacus Education - Air Raid Wardens, accessed 3/1/2023 from https://spartacus-educational.com/2WWairwardens.htm

Other
Aerial Photo - RAF_HLA_694_RS_4012 held by Historic England in the aerial photo collection
Aerial Photo - RAF_CPE_UK_2067_RV_6284 held by Historic England in the aerial photo collection
Aerial Photo - EAW043657 held by Historic England in the aerial photo collection

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