Listed Building record TQ 77 SE 1263 - Type 24 pillbox, south of Yew Tree Lodge, Hoo St Werburgh

Standard concrete construction anti-tank pillbox. Covered in Ivy, accessible..
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : Yes
How accessed for survey : Via lane.
Tourism Potential : Possible heritage trail
Condition : moderate
Date of visit : 11/05/06

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 hexagonal pillbox located 73m south of Abbots Lodge. Concrete with brick shuttering but without recessed embrasures. Recorded on 1942 (RAF0 and 2013 (Google Earth) aerial photographs. The pillbox was seen on a field visit in 2014. (2)

Designated as a Listed Building in 2020 (3)

Concrete pillbox with brick shuttering. Used as a wood store.Pillbox. Concrete type 24 pillbox, facing E. Narrow wall version with brick skin. Behind house on main road, 30m S of Abbots Lodge, Stoke Rd, Hoo St. Werburgh. (1)

A hexagonal pillbox is visible on aerial photographs at TQ 79031 72699 (the grid reference assigned by authority 1), and has been mapped as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. Contrary to the statement in authority 1, however, that location is about 73m south of Abbots Lodge. The pillbox formed part of the defences associated with the Hoo Stop Line (Monument 1542577), a system of anti tank ditches, gun emplacements and pillboxes constructed in 1940 across the south western third of the Hoo Peninsula, from the Medway to the Thames. Defensive features associated with this pillbox include a section of anti tank ditch (Monument 1542610) about 57m to the east, an anti tank pillbox 65.6m to the north (Monument 1418713), and two pillboxes to the west (Monuments 1418685 and 1426022).

The hexagonal pillbox is visible on aerial photographs from 1942 to at least 1973, and its outline may be discernible on photographs taken in 2007. It is depicted on the latest OS 1:2500 map. (2-6)

The description given in authority 1 appears to be a conflation of two separate pillboxes: the hexagonal structure recorded here (Monument 1418686), and a rectangular anti tank pillbox, recorded as Monument 1418713, which lies immediately behind the house known as Abbots Lodge and appears to have been converted into a shed. (7)

<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, 11/05/06, Type 24 pill box off Stoke Hoo (Photograph). SKE14523.

<5> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War diary. (Chart). Ske14307.

<6> MMRG, 11/05/06, Type 24 pill box off Stoke Hoo (Photograph). Ske14523.

<7> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War diary. (Chart). SKE14307.

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