975 people toured the wartime air raid shelter under St Michael's Arcade on Remembrance Sunday, Rowvember's busiest event yet. Organisers plan to open it again.

975 people went down into the Second World War air raid shelter beneath St Michael’s Arcade on Sunday 8 November. They came through the door in just two hours.

It was the most popular event in the history of Rowvember, the annual month of events about the Chester Rows. At its peak the queue ran up Bridge Street as far as the Cross. The figures come from Chester BID’s report of the day, published on 10 November.

Rowvember is run by Heritage Chester, a community interest company based at the Bluecoat Building. The shelter opening was billed on its programme as a 1pm to 3pm open house for Remembrance Sunday, with Home Guard re-enactors.

What is under the arcade

The shelter sits in the basement of St Michael’s Arcade, off Bridge Street. Chester BID’s account of the day says:

  • it had room for 475 people during the war
  • visitors walked its long passageway
  • the city council set up an air raid precautions committee as early as 1936
  • Chester came through 232 air raid alerts and ten bombing raids in 1940 and 1941

Volunteers in purple Heritage Chester sweatshirts kept the queue moving and handed out information sheets. A Home Guard officer and a female Home Guard volunteer walked the street in full uniform.

Inside St Michael's Arcade in Chester, with Christmas garlands over the shop fronts and a canopy of lights under the glass roof
St Michael's Arcade, above the shelter, dressed for Christmas. Photo: Chester BID

Will it open again?

“We know people are curious about what lies beneath the Rows, but we never imagined a queue reaching past the Cross,” said James Dixon of Heritage Chester. “We’ll definitely be looking to open the shelter again.”

No date has been announced. He said the day could not have gone ahead without the volunteers.

What it means for you

If you missed the shelter, watch the Rowvember page and Heritage Chester’s social media for a second opening. Most of the rest of this month’s events are booked through the same page. Still to come, according to the programme:

Date Event Time
Sat 14 Nov John Douglas on The Rows tours 11am and 1pm
Sat 14 Nov Folklore and Fantastical Architecture Walk 11am
Sat 14 Nov Mrs Mainwaring’s Masquerades talk 7.30pm
Tue 17 Nov Rows Past, Present and Future: Sir Donald Insall 6.30pm
Tue 17 and 24 Nov Lowe’s Museum open house, small groups 1pm
Sat 21 Nov Rows Family Fun Day, St Michael’s Arcade 12pm to 4pm
Thu 26 Nov A Women’s History of Chester Rows talk 6.30pm
Mon 30 Nov 28 Eastgate Street crypt open hour 1pm

The crypt under 28 Eastgate Street dates from about 1300. Heritage Chester says the open hour is the first time it has opened since Debenhams closed.

Sources