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PILLBOXES OR BLOCKHOUSES

pillbox is of type FW3/24.Tamwoth .During World War II, these bunkers were used for the defense of the United Kingdom against a possible enemy invasion. They were built in 1940 and early 1941’s..............
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mw0njm. said:
Does anyone know if Are any pillboxes of Blockhouses are left in england? (plenty here in wales) any info will be gratefull
thanks in advance.

en.wikipedia.org

British hardened field defences of World War II - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Pete, there were about 28,000 built and now just over 6,000 remain. There were various designed, but the hexagonal one was most common it seems. Lots were placed along rivers and canals, there is a super one on the Worcester Canal at Lifford, shaped like a chimney.

This one is at Woodhouse Farm, Derbyshire on the bank of the river Tame.

I recently 3D scanned it for some research work going on in the Trent Valley. you can see the blast wall inside

PillBox-1.jpg
 
Pillbox near Hopwas

One of a series of pillboxes along the west bank of the River Tame near Tamworth which were built as part of Command Line No.5 (Tamworth to Ashbourne) and Command Line No.6 (Tamworth to Stockport). This is the last of the group accessible from the footpath along the river between Tamworth and Hopwas1693904808400.jpeg
 
It seems that there a quite a few structures remaining in rural places where housing and industrial developments have not encroached. These are usually found alongside railways, canals or remote fields.
 
we still have a lot on hilltops over looking the coast here in wales

Defence of Britain Archive

The Defence of Britain Project databases were created from field and documentary work carried out between April 1995 and December 2001. The purpose of the Project was to record the 20th century militarised landscape of the United Kingdom, and to inform the responsible heritage agencies at both...
archaeologydataservice.ac.uk
 
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Type of sitePILLBOX (TYPE FW3/24)
LocationTamworth, in parkland just to SW of Lady Bridge at junction of River Tame with the Flood Relief Channel.
AreaTamworth, Staffordshire, England
Grid reference SK 2046 0379 (Scale: 1:25000 , 2000)
PeriodWW2
ConditionGood
Materials Reinforced Concrete
Threats Type: Flooding (Medium Term)
Detail: Site of pillbox is waterlogged.
RecorderRegan, A. J. (Pillbox Study Group
 
If you can find a copy, a brilliant reference is the book "Pillboxes - A study of UK. Defences 1940" by Henry Mills. Published by Leo Cooper Publishing in 1985. ISBN 0-436-57360-1. It details the different types of pillbox designs with lots of photos and diagrams and appendix has maps detailing every "stop line", pillbox , blockhouse, set of anti-tank "teeth", flame fougasse and spigot mortar base in the UK. Another appendix lists the grid references of them and the type. Worth looking out for on Ebay.
 
Quite a lot in southern England , for example along/around the Kennet & Avon canal, which was thought of as a a defence line
 
You want to get yourself off to Norfolk plenty of them there , one particular structure in a village not far from Cromer we discovered while looking over a disused hotel that was built in the 1800's . Was what I can only describe as a pillbox/observation point c/w access points where weapons would be aimed out of. It's actually built into the side of the cliff going down to the sea , we found it by accident walking along the perimeter of the hotel , there was a change in surface from let's say dirt track to concrete it was only when I went to the edge I made out it was some sort of fortification it must me about 20/30' long .Then when you lift your eyes up and look out to seea, you can imagine how close it must have been to the pill box in the Longest Day when the German lookout notices the allies fleet on the horizon . I was amazed to be honest how many there are and some you can actually walk up close and observe .
 
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