Building record TQ 77 SE 1278 - Type 24 Pillbox, south of Wybornes Wood, High Halstow

Standard concrete construction infantry pillbox, Door and embrasure blocked.
Owner : Public
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential : Possible heritage trail
Condition : moderate
Date of visit : 11/05/06

Description from record TQ 77 SE 112:
Concrete type 24 pillbox facing E. Narrow wall version with brick skin. Blocked loopholes and door. Pert of Lodge Hill Magazine defences. (1)

Featured in English Heritage report on the Second World War Stop Line in 2014: "Second World War reinforced concrete Type 24 pillbox, located at the north east corner of Lodge Hill Royal Naval Armaments Depot. It probably also formed part of the defences of the stop line. Recorded on aerial photographs taken in 1940 (RAF) and 2007 (PGA), but partially obscured later by a tree. Seen on May 2015 field visit with a blocked entrance and embrasures. Rubble against the western side is possibly the remains of another pillbox but its original location is unclear". (2)

Concrete type 24 pillbox on crest line facing N. Incomplete (base slab only). Intended to be part of the defences of Lodge Hill Magazine. In hedge NW of edge of Wybornes Wood, High Halstow. (1)

The Second World War pillbox described in authority 1 is located on the north west edge of Wybornes Wood, near the north eastern corner of Lodge Hill Royal Naval Armaments Depot (Monument 1077634). The pillbox would have provided protection for the depot, and is also an 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 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. It appeared as an extant structure on a Google Earth aerial photograph taken in 2007. (2-4)

<1> Not applicable, SMR Kent uncatalogued index entry, site visit by VTC Smith 29/9/95 (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> MMRG, 05/11/06, Type 24 pill box (Photograph). SKE14667.

<3> MMRG, 05/11/06, Type 24 pill box (Photograph). Ske14667.

<4> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War Diary (Collection). Ske14323.

<5> 11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War Diary (Collection). SKE14323.

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