Report - Heanton Punchardon Shelter - Devon

[Lectrician]

This is not the most interesting to be honest, but it's on my doorstep, and little known about, so thought it was worth a look.

Heanton Punchardon Air-Raid Shelter​

The entrance faces an unclassified back road, the entrance being red brick hidden behind brambles etc.

A house has been built on the ground above the shelter since it's construction, and when this was built they filled some shafts that where accessible from above, as can be seen in the pics. The main entrance facing the road has been filled with soil too, but this was subsided a little and you can access - a little tight though!

Very little history about this - I could not find anything on the internet at all. There are roumers of an underground tunnel in this vacinity between this area (church and air raid shelter) and the local RAF base at the bottom of the hill, and also the local 'Heanton Court'. Not sure how true that is - I really can't find any references!

Took me a while to get in, and as I was wiggling like a worm a car drove by - they must have seen these legs wiggling half way up the hedge! Surprised they did not stop!

I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D5000 with a couple lenses, but I could not stomach taking this into the shelter This was more of an exploratory visit, but to be honest there is little worthy of returning with a decent camera

Still, I got in, and did not expect to get as far as I did, so here is a few pics!

A quick sketch of the layout:

The entrance (can you spot it ):

The tight squeeze over the mounds of mud! You can see the concrete lintels of the roof:

The entrance corridoor with three doors to the right, with what appeared to be a toilet at the end:

Evidence of some electrickary:

Ventilation:

Strange hole between two of the rooms - almost like a serving hatch

Water on the floor in most rooms:

Evidence of the access shafts being filled with soil and rubble:

Two of the rooms:

One of the access shafts from above filled with rubble:

The room between the two access shafts from above - half filled with soil:

Plenty of these scary spiders!

Secret lemonade drinkers?

Wonder where Keith and Pam are? Doesn't strike me as 1940's

Hope you don't find this report to bland and boring - It was not quite as exciting as I thought it may be!

 

[Lt. Hanlon]

Any other ways in or just the one on the road? Might go down and have a look later today, only live at the bottom of the hill

 

[Lt. Hanlon]

Went up, found it. Never went in as was in some quite smart clothing I didn't want to get dirty.

Directions:
If you take the junction 50yds away from the Chivenor Service Station, go all the way up to the junction. Take a right, and it is about 20yds up the road on the left hand side

 

[Jojo83]

It’s an old lookout shelter for spotting the Germans coming up the estuary 👀👀

 

[tigger]

It’s an old lookout shelter for spotting the Germans coming up the estuary 👀👀

Seems unlikley as there are far better places close to the estuary for that. Nor is it likley to have been an air raid shelter as there would be no reason to have all of the rooms.
The presence of an issue hatch and significant electrical supply suggests some kind of central control point.

High ground overlooking an airfield which would have had a BHQ (Chivenor would have been slated to have a 11008/41 but that doesn't mean that's what they'd construct)?

 

[Mooog1]

The Station became capable of effectively mounting operational missions on 7 November 1941, when the operations room was first manned. This room was in Eastacombe Farm, as a precaution against enemy air attack.