The damage done

In August 1939, the Tate Gallery closed for the duration of the war. Most portable works of art were moved to safe storage in the countryside and the remainder to disused underground tunnels at Piccadilly Station. This was a wise precaution as the building received hits by German bombs on several occasions during the war. Early in the morning of 16 September 1940 the largest bomb was dropped. All of the glass windows on the south side of the gallery were blown outward, offices and roofing were destroyed and Atterbury Street itself was a scene of devastation. Further, bombs, including incendiaries, and rain through roof holes damaged more of the building over the following months of the Blitz. The building was abandoned for the rest of the war, except for the air raid shelter on the premises and was only reoccupied after rebuilding work had finished in 1946.