Downs Junior - Take Shelter at Heritage Open Days

If you’re looking for a piece of local history that feels genuinely immersive, you should keep the Downs Junior - Take Shelter tours on your radar for this autumn. This event centers around an original World War II air raid shelter located right beneath the playground of Downs Junior School on Rugby Road in Brighton. What makes this spot so interesting is that it’s one of the few surviving school shelters in the UK, and currently the only one in the Southeast accessible to the public. Built in 1939, it served its purpose throughout the war, was accidentally rediscovered in 1983, and has been carefully restored by volunteers since 2012.

The main opportunity to visit is usually during the Heritage Open Days in September. While the exact dates for 2026 are still being confirmed, the event is currently scheduled for 2026-09-01, typically running across a weekend in early or mid-September. Tours generally operate between 10:00 and 16:00. The experience itself is designed to recreate the life of children in wartime Brighton, functioning as an interactive museum. The guided tour lasts about 40 minutes, led by experts who walk you through the shelter. Beyond the main tour, the site features exhibitions, films, and audio detailing evacuation, rationing, and air raids. They also host talks with veterans who were children during the conflict, which adds a powerful personal dimension to the history.

When you actually go down there, you’ll find more than just the shelter itself. The site includes a dedicated museum, and sometimes they even feature vintage fair games, music, and dancing. If you need a break, there’s Mrs Button's Tea Room and a souvenir shop. Just a heads-up: the experience includes a simulation of a bombing, so be prepared for loud noises. Regarding tickets, the tours are ticketed, and booking online is highly recommended. For context, standard tickets for their May 2026 event (part of the Brighton Fringe) were priced at £10, with concessions at £8. Finally, while access to the shelter itself requires navigating a flight of stairs with a handrail, the rest of the facilities—the museum, tea room, shop, and toilets—are all wheelchair accessible.