Listed Building record TQ 77 SE 152 - Anti tank obstacle blocks located by Hoo Flats, Hoo St. Werburgh

Six 5ft cubes of concrete extending south from the river wall approx. 8m to a point where the ground would not support a heavy vehicle. provided an obstacle in the dead ground south of the anti tank block house. Very good condition and stable no evidence of the foreshore blocks subsiding (1), site photographs (2-5). The structures were seen in 2004, still intact. (6)

Description from record TQ 77 SE 1270:
5 in number, square, concrete construction.
Owner : Public
Publicly accessible : Yes
How accessed for survey : On Saxon Shore Way
Tourism Potential : Possible heritage trail
Condition : good
Date of visit : 06/10/29

Description from record TQ 77 SE 1072:
Defensive bollards - 'Dragon's Teeth'. Photographs (1-3). In 2004, only the recorded anti-tank blocks by this monument were visible. The "Dragon's Teeth" may have been removed or incorporated into the existing sea wall? (4)

This feature is noted in the English Heritage report on the Second World War Stop Line of the Hoo Peninsula, part of the wider Hoo Peninsula study. The report states: [in addition to the six concrete cubes that survive in good condition] "A possible Second World War defence obstruction, on the river wall south east of Hoo St Werburgh, seen on aerial photographs taken in 1942 and 1952. The small structure appears to be an anti-tank cube or pimple associated with an adjacent row of anti-tank cubes (NRHE 1418690) and other components of the stop line. A visit by English Heritage Assessment staff in 2014 confirmed that this structure had been removed although it is possible that sub-surface remains survive. " (7)

7 concrete blocks over river wall into water.

[Recorder Alexander gives NGR - TQ 797717].

Six 5ft cubes of concrete extending south from the river wall approx. 8m to a point where the ground would not support a heavy vehicle, providing an obstacle in the dead ground S of the anti-tank emplacement. In very good condition and stable. On river wall (Medway). (1)

Now Listed at Grade II. (2)

TQ 79247 71680. Second World War concrete anti tank cubes were placed in a line across the Medway river wall south east of Hoo St Werburgh as part of a major system of anti invasion defences. Ten blocks are visible on aerial photographs taken in May 1942, extending south from the top of the river wall onto the mud flats, a distance of about 25 metres. Six of the cubes survive and are listed structures.

The anti tank cubes formed the southernmost end of a Stop Line (Monument 1542577), comprising an anti tank ditch, gun emplacements, roadblocks and other obstructive features which extended across the south western third of the Hoo Peninsula, from the north bank of the Medway to the south bank of the Thames at Higham Creek. Elements of this system located in the immediate vicinity include part of the anti tank ditch (Monument 1542610), two pillboxes on the river wall (Monuments 1418689 and 1418688), and an anti tank pimple or separate anti tank cube (Monument 1542799). The anti tank cubes and the rest of the Stop Line have been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (10)

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

<1> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9869.

<2> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9512.

<2> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9839.

<3> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9563.

<4> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9839.

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 2005, North Kent Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey: Phase ll: Field Assessment Year One report (Unpublished document). SWX12121.

<5> 2000, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10334.

<6> Wessex Archaeology, 2005, North Kent Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey: Phase ll: Field Assessment Year One report (Unpublished document). SWX12121.

<7> historic england, 2014, Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project: Second World War Stop Line: Hoo St Werburgh to Higham Marshes. Research Report 9-2014. (Bibliographic reference). SKE31599.

<8> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War diary. (Collection). SKE14281.

<9> MMRG, 29/10/06, Anti Tank Blocks (Photograph). SKE14490.

<10> Council for British Archaeology, 2002, Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SKE32029.