Historical Air Raid Shelter Found Under Driveway

Just because you’ve been living in your house for a few years doesn’t mean you know it as well as you think you do. Especially if you live in an older house or neighborhood, you never know what could be lurking right in your own backyard.

Or, in the case of Simon Marks, right in your own driveway.

Simon was pulling his truck out of his driveway in Luton, England, when his car lurched unexpectedly. He had run something over, but he hadn’t seen anything in his rear view mirrors. Thinking he had accidentally driven over his flower beds, he got out to inspect the damage.

But Simon hadn’t driven onto his flower beds. Rather, he had just reversed into a gaping hole in his driveway. When he peered inside the hole, he couldn’t believe how deep and dark it was.

Naturally, his first thought was that a sinkhole had appeared in his driveway.

“This massive hole appeared. I thought it was a sinkhole or a badly constructed garden,” Simon explained, according to The Sun. “I was just terrified the whole house was going to vanish. I took some pictures and sent them to my dad. When I moved a few of the slabs out of the way, I found a ladder. I got my selfie stick and put it down the hole where I saw two rooms.”

Just inside the hole, an ancient-looking ladder led down to a two room shelter. It would turn out to be far more than that, little did Simon know. For the second his father laid his eyes on the pictures, he knew exactly what he was looking at: an air-raid shelter.
After doing some searching online, they found many images of similarly built air-raid shelters, further confirming that this is what this underground, concrete chamber was meant to be. Most likely, it was built during World War II, when bombings on this area were common.
Interestingly enough, they also discovered that at the time WWII was happening, no house was built on this land. Simon speculates that it must have been for the neighborhood or that maybe it was in someone’s large backyard.
Either way, the previous owners were most likely aware of its existence.

“The previous owner must have known it was there, and when he built the house and put a garden in, he must have filled it in,” he explained. “He clearly wasn’t very worried about it and it just sat there until the hatch fell through. I think it’s great and I want to clear it out and preserve it if it’s structurally sound.”

Simon and his father have begun excavating the area in order to preserve the shelter, as it is something Simon would like to save if the bunker is structurally sound.

We hope they are able to preserve this fascinating and very unique piece of history! It will definitely set Simon’s house apart from others on the block.

What do you think of this incredible and historic discovery? Share your thoughts on the uncovering of this underground bunker in the comments section below.