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April 26, 2006
Time Team
We wondered if when we dug up the garden we would find any archaeological remains. Apart from a gas pipe into the Library and an old discoloured marble, the only bits of archaeology we found was a fair amount of builders rubble in the form of red and blue bricks. According to local historian Linda Haywood, this is probably the remains of the air raid shelter that once stood on the site, as she has spoken to various elderly inhabitants including Mrs Shirley Farr whose parents used to be the librarians, and the consensus is that it was made of brick.
The air raid shelter was more or less positioned where the current library is standing but, it was smaller, narrower and set back from Main Street and it had a muddy path leading to it, full of pot holes. It had only one door, a flat concrete roof and, of course, there were no windows. It became the library in 1954 (when it was transferred from the old school.)
It can be imagined that it was a pretty bleak place to keep a library, but they covered the floor, put in electric lighting and an electric wall heater. Mrs. Farr says that it wasn’t damp! It was open on Monday & Friday evenings from 7 to 9 and possibly Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 5, (although she’s a bit uncertain on this.)
Parish Council records from 1954 (28 October [p267]) reveal:
Fencing on Village Green
It was reported that the fencing had been fixed in School Lane & suggested Clerk write to Tadcaster Rural District Council for 2 seats to be supplied as it would improve the site. After discussion, agreed when the Air Raid Shelter had been converted into the Library, a scheme could be got up to cut the grass & make the site tidy & in keeping with the Village amenities.
In 1964, a proposal was put to a Parish Meeting by the Parish Council to sell the 881 sq yds of land to the West Riding County Council for a new library. Sixty parishioners attended and the proposal was carried. The site was sold for £1,250. The shelter was demolished in 1967 and the new library was built and opened on 1st November 1968.
The Library under construction
Of course the Library became part of North Yorkshire and then York council services. and as the sensory garden is being built we can consider that the use of the land is once more in local hands!
Does anyone know of a photo of the old air raid shelter or the Library as built?
Posted by martin at April 26, 2006 7:38 AM
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