Monument record TQ 77 NW 1210 - Higham Marshes Second World War pillbox

Second World War Type 24 pillbox within the counterwall at the northern extremity of Higham Marshes. It may have been a backstopper to the GHQ Line to the north (PUID 10141). It was probably built in 1940 and decommissioned by the end of 1943, when invasion no longer seemed a possibility. It was buried within the counterwall in about 1980.
Owner : Unknown
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey : No longer extant. The counterwall which covers the pillbox is a route for walkers
Tourism Potential : None
Condition : unknown
Date of visit : 15/02/06

Pillbox DESTROYED: only bits of concrete overgrown with grass.Non-hexagonal pillbox.

Concrete pillbox, type 24, facing N. Buried in old counter wall. Nothing visible, but probing detected a structure approx. 20cm below present surface. Situated on grassland. Higham Marshes, at edge of River Thames, Salt Lane, Cliffe. (1)

No sign of the remains of the pillbox described above could be seen on the available aerial photographs when the area was surveyed as part of the as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. This could be due to the scale and quality of the photographs. The structural remains of an adjacent pillbox (NMR Monument Number: 1418666) could be seen within the counter wall to the east. (3)

<1> RAF, 11/10/46, Aerial photograph of Higham Marshes and Cliffe Marshes (Photograph). SKE13914.

<2> RAF, 11/10/46, Aerial photograph of Higham Marshes and Cliffe Marshes (Photograph). Ske13914.

<3> Council for British Archaeology, 2002, Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SKE32029.