Hatfield Police: Museum opens in former de Havilland Aircraft Company building

The Grade II listed building that now houses Hatfield Police Station used to accommodate the de Havilland Aircraft Company's administration department and senior staff canteen

A museum has been created in the basement of a Grade II listed police station that was once home to an aircraft company.

The Bunker in Hatfield tells the story of the building from 1933 to its use now by Hertfordshire Police.

The Art Deco building used to be home to the de Havilland Aircraft Company.

Ch Insp Simon Mason said the aim was to show the "friendly face of the police" while highlighting the town's importance to aviation.

The Air Raid Shelter room has been reimagined as it might have been in the 1940s when Geoffrey de Havilland and senior members of staff would have come during an air raid - and is a room for storytelling and other interactive learning

The de Havilland Aircraft Company moved to Hatfield in 1930.

Most of the buildings have since been demolished but one in Comet Way which housed the administration department and senior staff canteen is being used by Hertfordshire Police.

The idea for a community museum came from Ch Insp Simon Mason who found a shared love of history with PC Paddy Phelan.

They identified four possible rooms in the basement used as storage and enlisted the help of the former curator at the de Havilland Museum in London Colney, Alistair Hodgson, to curate it.

"As a museum curator it's a very, very rare privilege to start with a completely blank canvas," Mr Hodgson said.

PC Paddy Phelan and Alistair Hodgson have spent many hours of their own time creating the museum and are still running it all themselves with support from the local police neighbourhood team

PC Phelan said feedback from pilot visits by groups of children had been positive.

"We bring [the children] into the police room and they can see various bits of equipment that we have used throughout the years to keep ourselves safe and to keep the public safe," he said.

"That's generally where I start speaking to them about growing up and the pressures that they now face - and by then there's a friendly figure in a police uniform speaking to them and listening to what they have to say.

"I always say to them, 'please, please do not come back here as a visitor to our custody suite'."

The History Room tells the "long story" of de Havilland's involvement with the site up to nearly the end of the 20th Century and "ticks a lot of boxes" on the primary curriculum such as local history, art and design, and STEM subjects

Ch Insp Simon Mason said it felt "right to honour and celebrate" the connection felt by many local residents and former de Havilland employees

The Police Room is home to artefacts from Hertfordshire Constabulary because as its current occupants, the force "completes the story"

Ch Insp Mason said he "couldn't be happier" with how the project had turned out.

"I hope the schoolchildren enjoy their visits and that [it] achieves its aim of reassuring local young people that the police are there to help them."

The De Havilland building

• The building was constructed in about 1933 after the de Havilland Aircraft Company moved to the town from Edgware

• The company produced the Mosquito during World War Two before developing the Comet - the world's first jet airliner - as well as military aircraft such as the Vampire, Venom and Vixen

• In 1960, de Havilland became part of the Hawker Siddeley Group, followed by a merger with British Aerospace in 1970

• The Hatfield site continued to operate until it was closed in 1994

• The site was derelict for some 15 years although it was used as a film set where Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks filmed both Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers