Building record TQ 77 SE 1274 - Road block, N of Yew Tree Lodge, Hoo St Werburgh

Concrete road block, consisting of two concrete blocks either side of lane, with slots to take steel girder (RSJ). Protected by type 24 pillbox (21/1)
Owner : Public
Publicly accessible : Yes
How accessed for survey : On public road
Tourism Potential : Possible heritage trail
Condition : very good
Date of visit : 06/10/29
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This feature is recorded in the English Heritage report on the Hoo Peninsula Second World War Stop Line. The report states: "Part of a Second World War roadblock located either side of a track north from the Stoke Road, east of Hoo St Werburgh. The roadblock comprised two concrete blocks which once held a horizontal rail. The concrete blocks were noted by Foot in 2003 (Foot 2006). Visible on 2007 aerial photographs (PGA). Seen on a field visits in 2014, very overgrown but with signs of corrugated iron shuttering on the surface of the concrete. (2)

2 anti-tank blocks. Either side of footpath to Tile Barn Farm, Hoo area. (1)

The concrete blocks described in authority 1 represent the remains of a Second World War roadblock located on either side of a track leading north from the Stoke Road east of Hoo St Werburgh. The roadblock comprised two concrete blocks which once held a horizontal rail. The blocks have been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. The roadblock was 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. Elements of the Stop Line in the immediate vicinity include part of the anti tank ditch (Monument 1542610) and a pillbox (Monument 1418685). (2-3)

The concrete blocks belonging to the roadblock were recorded as extant features by a field visit in 2003 and were visible on aerial photographs taken in 2007. (4-5)

<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> MMRG, 10/06/06, Road block (Photograph). SKE14510.

<4> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, War diary (Collection). SKE14285.

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

<6> MMRG, 10/06/06, Road block (Photograph). Ske14510.

<7> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, War diary (Collection). Ske14285.