Monument record TR 15 NW 947 - Second World War fortified house adjacent the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway line, west of the East Station, Canterbury

A building adjacent the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway line, west of the East Station (Military Grid Reference R 582755) had been adopted as a fortified house by November 1940. This was fortified house No. 44 in a list of such structures made 2 December that year. The railway here formed part of the Dover, Canterbury, Whitstable Stop Line and also part of the outer perimeter of the Canterbury Nodal Point/Fortress. Three possibilities occur: the most likely, perhaps, is that this may have been a building (since demolished) at the end of Simmond’s Row, on the south side of the railway line; alternatively, it may have been a pavilion belonging to the sports field on the other side of the tracks (which may well have had a good view out across the Stour floodplain on this side); or, thirdly, it may have been some structure associated with the railway itself. There seems to have been a tunnel under railway at or near this point, which would have required protection as part of the Stop Line or Canterbury Fortress defences.
Owner : Unknown
Publicly accessible : Unknown
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential :
Condition : unknown
Date of visit :

CBA Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SKE15554.

CBA Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). Ske15554.

43 Division General Staff, 01/01/40, War Diary 43 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). SKE15555.

43 Division General Staff, 01/01/40, War Diary 43 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). Ske15555.