Archive Journeys: Tate History | The War, Other uses of the building

Other uses of the building

Although the Gallery did not function as a space for exhibiting works of art during the war, the building and its grounds were put to good use. The restaurant area became the venue for a boys club for a time, and in 1943 was made use of more widely by Westminster City Council youth organisations.

The Ministry of Works used three basement rooms as headquarters for their Engineering branch, and a basement room was also used by the Ministry of Food for storage. In 1940 the Ministry designated an area of the basement as a public air raid shelter:

...owing to urgent pressure from Westminster City Council... we have arranged to let the public in to the refuge under the Sculpture Gallery... the public should not be allowed to spread to other parts of the Gallery, which, apart from their safety are occupied by your sculpture and picture-frames... sorry we could not go through the full procedure of consulting the Trustees, but the matter was extremely urgent...

Letter from the Office of Works to John Rothenstein, 19 October 1940

Tate's basement area used as an air raid shelter
Copyright holder untraced

The grounds of the Gallery were also used to help the war effort.

In April 1942, the Tate's garden was converted into allotments for local residents, and in 1944 pre-fabricated homes were sited in the grounds behind the building providing temporary accommodation for people made homeless by the bombing raids.

Prefabricated houses to the rear of the Tate