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 from the on-street machines or via the paybyphone app.
By rail
London Road station (BN1 4QS) is a 10 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.
Opening times
Public open days – We are open each year for two weekends during the Brighton Fringe Festival. Please see our event pages for our 2023 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, vintage fair stalls and games (community open days only) all have level access with accessible doorways.
Access to the shelter is via wide steps with a handrail (no longer using the ladder entrance pictured.) Once inside the shelter there is level access throughout.
There is an induction loop in the main classroom and museum display area