Building record TQ 77 SE 1282 - Type 24 Pillbox, east of Lodge Hill Wood, Cooling

Standard concrete construction infantry pillbox, brick faced. Blocked door and embrasures.
Owner : Public
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential : Possible heritage trail
Condition : moderate
Date of visit : 11/10/06

Description from record TQ 77 SE 129:
Concrete. Type 24, facing East. Good condition. (1)

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 reinforced concrete Type 24 pillbox. Overlooked the anti-tank ditch from the east edge of Lodge Hill Wood. Seen on a May 2015 field visit and appears to have used plank shuttering and has no gaps above the embrasures." (2)

TQ 7643 7444. A Second World War Type 24 pillbox, constructed on the east edge of Lodge Hill Wood near the north side of Lodge Hill Royal Naval Armaments Depot (Monument 1077634). The pillbox 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 pillbox overlooks the course of the Stop Line's anti tank ditch and lies within the edge of the wood, which was incorporated as part of the obstructive feature. It lies about 70m to the south of another identical structure (Monument 1426724). Both pillboxes, along with the rest of the Stop Line defence system, have been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (2-3)

The pillbox appeared as an extant structure on a Google Earth aerial photograph taken in 2007. (4)

MMRG, 10/11/06, Type 24 pill box (Photograph). SKE14687.

MMRG, 10/11/06, Type 24 pill box (Photograph). Ske14687.

11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War diary (Collection). SKE14327.

11th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 18/01/41, War diary (Collection). Ske14327.

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