Listed Building record TQ 77 SE 1273 - Infantry pillbox, north of Yew Tree Lodge, Hoo St Werburgh

Standard concrete construction pillbox with 7 embrasures.
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey : In private radio compound
Tourism Potential : Possible heritage trail
Condition : good
Date of visit : 06/10/29

Description from record TQ 77 SE 96:
Concrete type 24 pillbox facing E. Narrow wall version with brick skin (1).

This feature is recorded in the English Heritage report on the Second World War Stop Line in the Hoo Peninsula, part of the wider Hoo Peninsula study. The report states: "Second World War reinforced concrete pillbox with brick shuttering with recessed embrasures to the east of Hoo St Werburgh by a farm track off the north side of the Stoke Road. Recorded on 2007 aerial photographs (PGA) but under tree cover by 2013 (Google Earth). Appeared to be complete on a 2014 field visit but is surrounded by dense vegetation. (2)

Designated as a Listed Building in 2020 (3)


Concrete pillbox with brick shuttering. Type 24 pillbox, with recessed embrasures. Pillbox. Concrete type 24 pillbox facing E. Narrow wall version with brick skin. In corner of field by roadside, W side of farm road to Tile Barn Farm, Hoo St. Werburg. (1)

The Second World War pillbox described in authority 1 survives as an extant structure to the east of Hoo St. Werburgh, alongside a farm track which leads off the the north side of the Stoke Road. The pillbox formed part of a Stop Line (Monument 1542577), constructed in 1940, 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. The pillbox and many other features associated with the Stop Line have been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. Elements of the Stop Line system located in the immediate vicinity of this pillbox include part of the anti tank ditch (Monument 1542610) and a roadblock (Monument 1418717). (2-3)

<1> Not applicable, SMR Kent uncatalogued index entry, Site visit by VTC Smith 10/9/95 (Miscellaneous Material). SKE6440.

<2> 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.

<3> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

<4> MMRG, 10/06/06, Type 24 pill box (Photograph). SKE14509.

<5> MMRG, 10/06/06, Type 24 pill box (Photograph). Ske14509.

<6> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War Diary (Collection). Ske14284.

<7> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War Diary (Collection). SKE14284.

<8> Council for British Archaeology, 2002, Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SKE32029.