Monument record TQ 87 NE 116 - World War II pillbox, North Level, Isle of Grain

Rosecourt Barn. In use as storage space on MOD firing range. (1). Photograph (2-3). Site identified during 2002 survey (4).

Pillbox [no specification] - now used as storage by MoD. Rosecourt Barn on MOD firing range, Isle of Grain. (1)

The site of Rosecourt Barn was mapped as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. However, no trace of a pillbox meeting the description of the above source could be seen on available aerial photographs dating from 1945 to 2010, or from a site visit by the project team in the summer of 2011. The only building remains visible are the ruins of a large rectangular enclosure visible both on aerial photogaphs and surveyed in on the current OS map. One suggestion for the record is that the remaining standing section of this enclosure wall could be mistaken for the side of a pillbox when viewed from the seawall (outside the danger area in which the site has stood for many decades). Unless granted access to the site, the remains can only be viewed from a distance. (5)

<1> Victor Smith and Ron Crowdy, Thames Gateway Assesment: Gazetteer of Defence Sites (Index). SKE6445.

<2> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9481.

<3> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9482.

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 2002, North Kent Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Phase II: Field Assessment (Pilot) (Bibliographic reference). SWX11840.

<5> Council for British Archaeology, 2002, Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SKE32029.