Plan Your Visit
Take Shelter is located at Downs Junior School which is on Rugby Road, Brighton, East Sussex. BN1 6ED. For our open days and events please use the entrance on Ditchling Road.
How to find us
By road
Downs Junior School is situated on the corner of Rugby Road and Ditchling Road in Brighton.
Parking – Pay and display parking is available on the residential streets surrounding the school. Tickets can be bought via the paybyphone app.
By rail
London Road station (BN1 4QS) is a 5 minute walk from the school. Trains to London Road run regularly from Brighton station and Lewes station. We are a 30 minute walk from Brighton station.
By bus
Buses 26, 46 and 50 run up and down Ditchling Road. Through the kind support of Brighton & Hove Buses, listen out to the announcements on the No. 26 and they will let you know when you reach Take Shelter. The school is approximately a 30 minute journey from Brighton town centre.
Please note – If you are a school and are looking to visit Take Shelter via bus please get in touch and we may be able to help with transport courtesy of the generous support of the project by Brighton & Hove Buses.
For accessibility information please see box below
Opening times
Public open days – We are open the second Sunday of most months and for two weekends during Brighton Fringe in May. Please see our event pages for our 2026 openings. We also open as part of the Heritage Open Days in September. We are open by appointment throughout the year for group tours of the shelter.
For schools tours – We are open on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the academic year for pre-booked tours and interactive learning sessions with our Take Shelter veterans. For further information and to book please click here.
Group visits – We are open by appointment throughout the year for group tours. For each shelter tour we recommend no more than 8 people per tour. Tours can start every 15 minutes and last 40 minutes. To book a group tour please click here
Shop
We have a range of Take shelter and Second World War themed souvenirs including our Sheltered Lives books which brings together memories of those who used the shelter as children.
Accessibility
There is level access for school visits (via Rugby Road entrance) and for our community open days and tours (via Ditchling Road entrance).
All our above ground activities and facilities – classroom and museum areas, toilets – all have level access with accessible doorways. On days when we have a vintage fair and games, the stalls also have level access.
The underground Air Raid shelter is only accessible via a set of wide steps. The stairs have a handrail and brightly coloured grips on the edge of each step. Once inside the shelter there is level access throughout. A portable induction loop is available on request for use in the main classroom and museum space.
The disabled toilet on site has a handrail and alarm. Turning space measurements are available on request.
No parking is available on the actual site, but there is on street disabled parking nearby (less than 100m away from the entrance), and shared use on street parking bays which can be used by Blue Badge Holders. Maps of on street parking bay uses are available on request.
If you have any queries or requests regarding accessibility, please do not hesitate to contact us.