Dunmill Lock, Hungerford Common, Berkshire
Anti-Tank Defences On Hungerford Common
Situated between the railway line and the Kennet and Avon Canal at Hungerford Common in Berkshire are two FW3/28 Anti-Tank Pillboxes.
Both are positioned back to back on an embankment covering the canal, road and railway from a vantage point.
The twin Type 28 close to the railway bridge is well known and appears in Henry Wills Pillboxes with a two pounder gun and crew set up inside for a BBC television documentary in 1979.
Since I last visited the area, all of the defences have had the entrances and main embrasures sealed with wire grilles now making them inaccessible.
A metal inscribed information board has also been placed close to them.
This gives some welcome and detailed information on the history behind the WW2 defence line and Pillboxes.
A short distance down the road and across the canal bridge at Dunmill Lock is a shell-proof FW3/22. This also has an information board and is sealed like the two previous boxes.
All of these defences have brick shuttering which is now in poor condition.
by Tim Denton
