{"id":5408,"date":"2015-03-08T17:16:17","date_gmt":"2015-03-08T17:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pillbox-study-group.org.uk\/gazetteersubsite\/?page_id=167"},"modified":"2025-09-27T16:36:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T15:36:11","slug":"snowdonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pillbox-study-group.org.uk\/gazetteersubsite\/snowdonia\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowdonia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

‘Pen-Y-Gwryd Hotel’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Snowdonia, North Wales<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OS Sheet: 115 (Snowdon)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder how many visitors to the Snowdonia National Park pass these Pillboxes every year without even giving them a second glance. Those that do acknowledge their existence probably give no more than \u201cWhat on earth is a Pillbox doing up here in the mountains?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I\u2019ve past by them many times and finally decided that I should look at them just a little more closely. Centered around the famous \u2018Pen-y-Gwryd\u2019 Hotel are four Pillboxes constructed of the local welsh slate and blended into the landscape by various methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pillbox\u00a0SH 6582-5550<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pillbox\u00a0SH 6565-5570<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pillbox\u00a0SH 6605-5595<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type 22 Pillbox\u00a0SH 6610-5570<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelling eastwards up the A498 from Beddgelert the first pillbox is found on the left about 250m from the road junction. It has a commanding view down the valley and up towards \u2018Pen-y-Pass\u2019 to the Northwest. Like all the other three examples, it is well camouflaged with local slate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 20ft by 10ft, it is an imposing structure! It also has some unusual features, notably \u2018glazed clay pipes\u2019 set at a downward angle from inside to out and located at the corners of the structure. As the loopholes are \u2018blind\u2019 at these points could they have been for a pistol or perhaps to roll grenades out onto unsuspecting attackers sheltering in the blind spots!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entrance is curved and provides a wall behind which the defender could give fire support to enhance the effectiveness of the pillbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These photographs illustrate the pillbox found on the eastern side of the hotel adjacent to the A4086, heading towards \u2018Capel Curig\u2019. There are a few minor differences, such as in the entrance, otherwise this example is almost identical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the southern side of the Hotel and adjacent to the western end of the lake, a camouflaged example of a Type 22 can be found. It is set into the hillside behind and hence can only give support to the to the east.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final pillbox is of the \u2018large design\u2019 already illustrated. Unfortunately, lack of time prevented no more than a cursory glance from about 300m. However, it is located above the A4086 as it climbs from the Hotel A4086\/A498 Junction towards \u2018Pen-y-Pass\u2019. Any vehicle coming down from the pass would have a nasty surprise as it rounded the bend!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Graham G Matthews<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Pen-Y-Gwryd Hotel’ Snowdonia, North Wales OS Sheet: 115 (Snowdon) I wonder how many visitors to the Snowdonia National Park pass these Pillboxes every year without even giving them a second glance. Those that do acknowledge their existence probably give no more than \u201cWhat on earth is a Pillbox doing up here in the mountains?\u201d Well, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-5408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wales","tag-snowdonia","czr-hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t