Building record TQ 77 SE 1259 - Type 24 pillbox, north of Ratcliffe Highway, Hoo St Werburgh

Standard concrete construction infantry pillbox, brick faced..
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential : Possible heritage trail
Condition : good
Date of visit : 07/01/21


Description from record TQ 77 SE 144:
On field boundary, North of Ratcliffe Highway. Brick and concrete, Type 24. In sound condition. (1)

This is mentioned in a report by English Heritage on the Second World War Stop Line defences, part of the wider Hoo Peninsula study. The report states that this is a "Second World War brick and concrete type 24 pillbox located on a field boundary north of Ratcliffe Highway. The pillbox was visible on PGA aerial photographs taken in 2007. It could not be located during a field visit in 2014 due to tree cover but may still be extant." (2).

Brick and concrete type 24 pillbox. On field boundary, N of Ratcliffe Highway, Hoo St. Werburgh. (1)

The Second World War pillbox describe in authority 1 has been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. Its location was more accurately identified as TQ TQ 77437 73264. This pillbox was probably associated with the Hoo Stop Line, a system of anti tank ditches, pillboxes and gun emplacements constructed in 1940 across the south western third of the Hoo Peninsula, from the Medway to the Thames. It is located about 445m west of one of the anti tank ditches and abut 400m south of Lodge Hill Armament Depot. The pillbox was visible as an extant feature on aerial photographs taken in 2007. (3-5)

MMRG, 07/01/21, Type 24 pillbox (Photograph). SKE14657.

MMRG, 07/01/21, Type 24 pillbox (Photograph). Ske14657.

11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War Diary (Collection). SKE14313.

11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War Diary (Collection). Ske14313.

English Heritage, 2004, Defence areas: a national study of Second World War anti-invasion landscapes in England (Unpublished document).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

<1> Victor Smith and Ron Crowdy, Thames Gateway Assesment: Gazetteer of Defence Sites (Index). SKE6445.

<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> USAAF?, 1944, NMR US/7GR/LOC348 2064-5 27-MAY-1944 (Photograph). SKE56027.

<4> RAF, 1947, NMR RAF/CPE/UK/1923 4080 16-JAN-1947 (Photograph). SKE56052.

<5> Unknown, 2021, PGA_TQ7773_2007-04-21 (Photograph). SKE58933.