Second World War defensive scaffolding and barbed wire visible on the beach at North Foreland, mapped from military aerial photographs.

The beach scaffolding measures approximately 450m in length, and the barbed wire, located around 30m behind the scaffolding, surrounds the entrances onto the beach and the numerous beach huts present there, approximately 250m in length.

The scaffolding and barbed wire are first visible and were mapped from an aerial photograph taken in May 1942 [1] and is gone by April 1946 [2].

The lengths of scaffolding and barbed wire functioned as beach defences in order to impede the progress of enemy soldiers, vehicles or watercraft, and were extremely common features along the coastline of SE England. It is associated with further Second World War defence systems (MWX43005).

A transcription of the features recorded from aerial photography exists within a GIS layer held by this HER [3].

<3> Wessex Archaeology, 2009-10, South-East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - Aerial Photographic Transcriptions (Digital archive). SWX15705.

<3> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report (Unpublished document). SKE25955.

<3> Cornwall Council Historic Environment Projects and Gloucestershire County Council, 2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Components 1&2: Results of NMP Mapping (Unpublished document). SKE25954.