Whilst on our survey, we discovered 3 large gun emplacements (at least we think they are gun emplacements!). They are on Boyton Marshes in the parishof Boyton, Suffolk (TM/639/247 approx) and are much larger than the common pillboxes found throughout this area. We have serached the Defence of Britain database […]
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Mark Brotherton has been out and about in Suffolk & Norfolk checking out some of the local defence structures. Bury St Edmunds Hudson House Pillbox Kilverston Railway Crossing Lackford Littleport Mildenhall Pillbox Hengrave Rougham White Chapel Farm By Mark Brotherton
Boyton Marshes Tank Ranges Loopholed Wall In Suffolk Farmhouse Anti-Tank Sockets In Road Airfield Defence Pillbox At Woodbridge Alistair Graham Kerr, Editor Psg ‘Loopholes’ Journal
This three looped Pillbox variant was sited at the harbour entrance at Lowestoft opposite a Pounder Emplacement. Another example of this design can be found 14 miles to the south with a group of ‘two looped square’ pattern pillboxes. The ‘two looped square’ Pillbox (Type 26 Variant?) is commonly found […]
The Mill at Elstead on the River Wey, GHQ Line B, Surrey. Beside the River Wey at the Mill in Elstead is an excellent preserved FW3/22 pillbox, it can be found close to the main entrance and beer garden of the picturesque restaurant and public house. Although the brick shuttered […]
Anti Tank Gun Defence and Hidden Vickers Machine Gun Box, GHQ Line B, Elstead, Surrey. Taking a public footpath from Somerset Bridge which crosses the River Wey close to Elstead in Surrey, I had planned to take a look at one of the large AT pillboxes, one of several in […]
Spigot Mortar Base and Air Raid Shelter. Farnham Park is accessible to all and within can be found surviving relics from WW2. During the conflict the park was close to the GHQ Line and next to Farnham Castle where the War Office had established its Camouflage Development and Training Centre. The […]
Blackburn Works, Cattershall Lane, Godalming, Surrey. Ngr SU982444 Until 2005 an unusual and rare find could be seen on top of an old Victorian looking works which belonging to the J L Blackburn engineering company close to the River Wey at Godalming. I happened to notice which at first appeared […]
Hankley Common “Atlantic Wall” Tilford SU884413 Visiting Hankley Common in Surrey I decided to capture some of the interesting parts of the “Atlantic wall” that survive today scattered around the woodland in this pleasant part of Surrey. The ruins can be found after a short walk in a straight line […]
Kettlebury Hill and its Concrete Bunker Ngr SU880404 Not far from the D-Day training wall at Hankley Common is an unusual rectangular blockhouse set on the edge of Kettlebury Hill, this once had a clear commanding view across the open common below but over time the view has been obscured by tree growth. The structure is quite […]
Blackhorse Road Railway Bridge, Woking, Surrey. Ngr SU968571 This large rectangular pillbox stands protecting the road bridge under the main London to Bournemouth railway at Blackhorse Rd, Woking, despite being partially overgrown the structure looks in excellent condition and has three facing south west facing embrasures which cover the road […]
Tillingbourne Brook, East Shalford Lane, Ngr TQ 012474 On a section of GHQ Line B near Shalford in Surrey is a badly deteriorating, but still highly interesting drum shaped anti tank gun emplacement. Postioned on the edge of a woods and a gentle slope facing south west, its map ref […]
I remembered seeing these pillboxes years ago when I was on holiday and as I was in the area this Summer and paid them a visit. They are examples of Eared Pillboxes, some of which have fallen over the cliff and ended upside down on the beach below. By Tam […]
Type 24 Pillbox Guarding Road Bridge Over Canal Gorge If you are travelling around the Shropshire countryside and happen to find yourself driving along the A519 between Newport and Eccleshall you will inevitably pass over the Shropshire Union Canal just north of Norbury Junction. The road bridge looks nothing out […]
I thought the members of the PSG would be interested in this unique 1940s time-warp view of our railway station on the Somerset and Dorset at Midsomer Norton, Somerset. We recently uncovered our Type 24 from behind a veil of 30 years of overgrowth. At present we are restoring the […]
A 1980`S Photographic Record Of Mineheads’ WWII Defences
I attach four photographs of the exposed beach at Brancaster, north Norfolk on the 18th February 2005. The beach scaffolding has been exposed by recent high tides and the section of exposed angled wall I think may well be an anti-tank wall? As the command building (now the Brancaster Golf […]
Norfolk is a county famous for it’s coastal erosion problems and the area around Cromer is certainly no exception. This pillbox is located approximately half a mile north of the Pier and undoubtedly ‘slumped’ down onto the beach below as the very soft ‘glacial till’ material of the cliffs was […]
A Rather Unusual Pillbox If you turn onto the Great Yarmouth sea front and head south after about 1 mile you come to the end of the holiday part of Yarmouth and head into an industrial part that is connected with the docks and known as the South Denes. About […]
Tony Hendry and son Karl have been about and about looking at the local defences near their home in Norfolk. It’s great to see a new generation taking a keen interest in military concrete! This Pillbox is located on the A47 on the right side just before you go into […]
These are pictures of the 6 inch Emergency Battery at Freiston Shore, Lincolnshire. By Sam Thompson
Sam Watson & Derek Thompson Take Us Around Some Of The Defence Sites Found In Lincolnshire.
Surviving Wartime Defences around Blackpool. The first five images are at grid reference SD328313 and are of a bunker inside the perimeter fence at Blackpool Airport. It can be found at the end of an old access/emergency road. I am not sure what its purpose was but it is very […]
Ngr SD710091 Bolton ‘Fire Watchers Post’ as seen mounted on the former gas works in New Holder Street, Bolton. Photos by Kevin Dowd
Viaduct Pillboxes. Adisham Viaduct in East Kent is unusual in that it has two pillboxes built into the recesses of the archways. This photo above shows the left hand arch with the top of the pillbox outline. This photo shows a close-up of the wall and end of one of […]
This is a short article on the GHQ line between the villages of Ashurst (on the Kent and Sussex border) and the village of Penshurst in Kent along the course of the River Medway, both of the villages lie to the west of Tunbridge Wells. Penshurst village was an anti-tank […]
River Medway and Barming Bridge. Ngr TQ725539 PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24): S0009607 (Extant) and PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): e32783 (Extant) I had observed the two ivy clad structures in the bottom of an apple orchard just east of the rail bridge over a minor road from the village of Barming and the […]
The River Medway & GHQ Line at Teston. The village of Teston [pronounced Teason] is on the north bank of the River Medway and is four miles west of the county town of Maidstone. In 1940 a section of the GHQ line defences ran through Teston and today six pillboxes, […]
Relief Landing Ground at NGR: SP175036 A Farm at the WWII RLG, RAF Southrop, Gloucestershire is defended by a very unusual double Pillbox. A Double Norcon Variant? I think this is a transportable Lewis Gun AA emplacement? The Farm House?? I think it’s a Watch Office Early type […]
What Are These? I found these some years ago at Bradwell Bay Airfield (Fighter Bomber Station WW2). Has anyone got any idea of what they are (perhaps not even military). I have had ideas that they were perhaps some kind of hold-fast for a Light AA Gun they have what […]
Cox Hill, Lawford, Essex I found the PSG web site very interesting and was able to identify the Pillbox near to where I live. It’s an Allan-Williams Turret and is located in a field on top of Coxs Hill in Lawford near to Manningtree Railway Station, Essex. It faces north […]
Chris Stewart-Moffitt has formed the Military Fortifications Rescue, Research & Restoration Group Covering the County of Essex, the Group has found some very unusual Defence Structures and approached the land owners of these sites in order to rescue them from decay. Where possible they are being restored to their former […]
The former airfield at RAF Hornchurch in Essex boasts the largest concentration of surviving Tett turrets in the country. This ultra rare form of one-man pillbox would have been extremely cramped and restrictive for the guy inside! Thankfully the surviving Tett turrets at Hornchurch are in relatively good condition; the outer rims […]
I took these photos last year in the summer at Walton on the Naze and I don’t think they will be around for much longer. By Dave Harrington
Wickham Bishops Road Defences, Witham, Essex. Today I visited a site at Wickham bishops road, Essex. It is recorded by Fred Nash and the SEAX group as a road barrier with irregular concrete blocks. However, upon closer inspection of these blocks the thought occurred to me that they look more sections of a demolished/destroyed […]
Spigot Mortar Emplacement: e23868 (Extant), Spigot Mortar Emplacement: e23867 (Extant) and Spigot Mortar Emplacement: e23866 (Extant)
Rectangular MMG Emplacements at Rye Harbour Photographs sent to the PSG by Dr Barry Yates These local design variation Vickers MMG pillboxes are located at the entrance to Rye Harbour, East Sussex. Next lot of pictures 2017 by Colin Anderson
Ringstead Bay, Weymouth OS194 by Graham G Matthews
Fort Henry, Redend Point, Studland Bay. Dorset. NGR: SZ 038 828 On top of Redend Point, Studland Bay, a small sandstone cliff which splits the beach in two at high tide, is Fort Henry. It is owned by the National Trust and extends along the seaward side of the grounds […]
Looking Back At Weymouth’s Defences. A 1980’S Photographic Record Of Weymouth’s WWII Defences By Kevin Briggs.
Nothe Fort, Weymouth, Dorset. Visiting Weymouth on a fine day in August, I decided to take a close look at the harbour and Nothe Fort which overlooks the entrance into Weymouth Harbour. Two Coastal Artillery Searchlight Defences can be found close to the harbour entrance. The first one is situated […]
OS 194 SY7713-8084 Is it a Pillbox or is it an Observation Post? Have you ever come across one of those structures that doesn’t drop neatly into one category or another? Well this example is situated on top of the 500ft cliffs at White Nothe, Weymouth, Dorset, is such an […]
Worbarrow Bay Revisited Worbarrow Bay, Dorset. I first visited Warbarrow Bay near Lulworth Cove back in 1996 as a Field Researcher for the Defence of Britain Project. At that time I documented many of the WWII defences that lay around the edge of the bay and when Tim Denton suggested […]
OS Sheet 203: Land’s End Fishing Cove, Gunwalloe, is situated at the very southern end of Loe Bar, Mount’s Bay, Cornwall. Access to the beach was protected by a concrete block constructed Anti-Tank wall. Anti Tank Wall Located approximately 100 metres up the track is a small concrete block manufacturing […]
Pendennis Castle, Cornwall Pendennis Castle guards the entrance to the River Fal at Falmouth, Cornwall. Originally built by Henry VIII, subjected to an intense blockade by the Roundheads in the 17th Century and surviving WWII it offers a unique insight into 450 years of history. It has several important WWII […]
OS 203: Land’s End Type 24 Pillbox Grid Ref: SW 5870-2758 This Type 24 Pillbox is located on the south-eastern end of of Praa Sands Beach about 100m from the beach access steps. Originally built on top of the 10m high cliffs it has unfortunately been subjected to the local […]
Type 24 Pillbox Overlooking Anti-Tank Wall A Type 24 Pillbox located on the small headland that separates Kennack Sands with the beach at Green stable. Due to the increased popularity of the beach it has been necessary to remove the Anti-Tank Wall at the Kennack Sands end but around the […]
Porthcurno WWII Communication Bunker & Anti-Invasion Defences A Photographic “Look-back” OS Sheet 203 Porthcurno, near Lands End Porthcurno is a very isolated cove near Lands End. Unknown to most people, it is the point where submarine telephone cables connecting Britain to the rest of the world come ashore. WWII Communication […]
OS Sheet 203: Land’s End Porthleven is a small fishing village situated on the edge of Mount’s Bay approximately 8 miles south of the port of Penzance. It offers protection from much of the Atlantic weather with its granite block walls and shallow water harbour. Type 24 Pillbox Grid Ref: SW […]
Camouflaged Pillbox OS 203: Lands End. NGR: SW 5205 – 4040 Pedn Olva Point These images have been enhanced using AI as the originals were very small and poor quality. This is a very unusual Camouflage Pillbox located immediately below the hotel at Pedn Olva at the western edge of […]
These unusual pillboxes are located at Sennen Cove, Cornwall, just around the corner from Land’s End. This pillbox located at the top of the hill above the cove is very similar to those found only a few miles away guarding the beach at Porthcurno. They appear to be a modified […]
Arp Signal Box The great increase in railway activity in WW2 led to the development of a new type of signal box. The running of the railways was as vital as was the safety of signalmen, so a strengthened signal box was developed with a concrete roof to give a […]
NGR SJ 5922-5763 I took these photographs of the remaining seagull trench at the former RAF Calveley, near Nantwich, Cheshire, in April 2004. It is located at the NW corner of landing ground between the perimeter track and runway of Calveley Airfield, (Grid ref: SJ 5922 5763 ) according to […]
A Type 27 Pillbox placed on top of an embankment overlooking the river Dee and RAF Sealand.
Located on the B3349 near Wokingham/Aborfield. NGR: SU777668 This rectangular bullet proof variant design can be found close to the road covering a small bridge near Barkham on the B3349, Wokingham to Arborfield Road in Berkshire. It once formed part of the outer defence perimeter for the nearby army garrison at Arborfield camp, […]
NGR SU 680-706 At Burghfield, just a few miles South-west of Reading in Berkshire can be found an excellent surviving example of a brick built fortified building (NGR SU680706). The converted stable-block is situated in between the tip of a road junction at a point where three roads meet and […]
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. […]
Following on from his recent information on Wartime Concrete in Berkshire, Philip came across this carving in a tree close to the ‘mystery building’ illustrated previously. He already knew that the 501st & 101st Airborne had been stationed in the area during the run up to D-Day and he proceeded […]
Under Threat! Berkshire GHQ Line Vickers Machine Gun Pillbox. M4 Junction 11 April 2008 Possibly Berkshire’s only surviving Vickers Machine Gun emplacement, at SU714855, may be under threat of demolition? The rare defence has recently become exposed due to tree and shrub clearance below the south west embankment of the M4 […]
GHQ Stop-Line, Tidmarsh, Berkshire. Bridges Were Hastily Erected To Provide Access To The Pillboxes. By Mike Quigley
Kennet & Avon Canal, Berkshire NGR: SU618686. Having just joined the Pillbox Study Group and having received my 1st copy of loopholes yesterday, I thought it would be good to send a recent picture taken at Ufton Bridge, alongside the Kennet and Avon canal in Berkshire. According to Ironsides book […]
Although not a pillbox here is a wartime structure that I found in Berkshire in an area known to have been used by the 501st and 101st Airborne during the build up to D-Day. It is about 15ft by 8ft divided into three segments. Two small rooms and a central […]
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