Building record TQ 77 SE 1251 - Type 24 pillbox, north of A228, Hoo St Werburgh

Standard concrete construction pillbox with 7 embrasures.
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential : Possible heritage trail
Condition : good
Date of visit : 11/05/06

This structure is described in the English Heritage report on the Second World War Stop Line on the Hoo Peninsula, part of the wider Hoo Peninsula study. The report states that this is a "Second World War Type 24 reinforced concrete pillbox with brick shuttering on the north side of Ratcliffe Highway (A228) north of Hoo St Werburgh. The structure is visible on aerial photographs taken in May 1944. An associated earth covered air raid shelter immediately to the north of the pillbox was visible on aerial photographs until 1952, but had been removed by 1961. The pillbox was visited during the Defence of Britain survey and was found in a fair conditiobn. It is visible, although partially under tree cover on aerial photographs of 2007 (Google Earth). (2).

Concrete pillbox with brick shuttering. Overgrown. [A Royal Observer Corps underground post is on the same site]. Type 24 pillbox.Concrete type 24 pillbox facing E: narrow wall version with brick skin. In field on N side of A228 road, Hoo area. (1)

The Second World War pillbox described in authority 1 is one element within the supporting defences of a Stop Line (Monument 1542577) constructed in 1940 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 structure is visible on aerial photographs taken in May 1944, and survives in fair condition. An associated earth covered air raid shelter immediately to the north of the pillbox was visible on aerial photographs until 1952, but had been removed by 1961.

Other elements of the Stop Line defence system in the immediate vicinity of this pillbox include part of the anti tank ditch (Monument 1542630), a pillbox to the south east (Monument 1418711) and another to the north west (Monument 1418680).
The pillbox and the rest of the Stop Line defence system have been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (2-5)

One or more small structures immediately to the south of this pillbox may be associated with a post war Royal Observer Corps post (Monument 1413773). (6)

<1> MMRG, 11/05/06, One digital photo (Photograph). SKE14517.

<2> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War diary (Collection). SKE14302.

<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> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War diary (Collection). Ske14302.

<4> MMRG, 11/05/06, One digital photo (Photograph). Ske14517.

<5> English Heritage, 2004, Defence areas: a national study of Second World War anti-invasion landscapes in England (Unpublished document). SKE17661.

<6> Council for British Archaeology, 2002, Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SKE32029.