Catalogue description Office of Works and successors: Civil Defence and Prison Building: Registered Files and Papers

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Details of WORK 28
Reference: WORK 28
Title: Office of Works and successors: Civil Defence and Prison Building: Registered Files and Papers
Description:

This series contains correspondence and papers relating to air raid precautions, the construction of shelters for government offices and the public, structural precautions in public buildings, lighting restrictions and other civil defence measures.

Most of the files were registered in the AR series, but a few are from the DCA, DL, ESS and SR series. Some files date from after the creation of the Department of the Environment and the Property Services Agency.

Many pieces contain maps and plans.
Date: 1895-1986
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Former reference in its original department: AR file series
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Department of the Environment, 1970-1997

Ministry of Public Building and Works, Controller Generals Division, 1967-1970

Ministry of Public Building and Works, Directorate General of Works, 1962-1967

Ministry of Works and Buildings, Directorate of Works, 1940-1942

Ministry of Works and Planning, Directorate of Works, 1942-1943

Ministry of Works, Directorate General of Works, 1946-1962

Ministry of Works, Directorate of Works, 1943-1945

Office of Works, Directorate of Works, 1920-1940

Property Services Agency, Directorate of Civil Accommodation, 1976-1990
Physical description: 327 boxes and files
Access conditions: Open
Administrative / biographical background:

From the mid-1930s, the Office of Works and its successors were involved in provision of structures for civil defence in the event of possible war. Work in this area continued after the Second World War. In May 1945 the ministry took over part of the Research and Experiments Department of the dissolved Ministry of Home Security, and in 1950 it acquired from the Home Office responsibility for giving advice to local authorities on structural precautions for civil defence.

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