Description

HOO ST WERBURGH

1797/0/10015 BELLS LANE (OFF)
20-APR-07 (North of)
Four pillboxes

II
Group of four pillboxes forming part of the Hoo Stop Line, 1940. Concrete and brick

PLAN: Two polygonal type 24 infantry pillboxes to the north and south of the group; two type 28 rectangular gun emplacements in the centre of the line.

EXTERIOR: The pillboxes are described in sequence from north to south. They are deliberately located behind (to the west of) a hedge line to cover the anti-tank ditch (now in-filled) and field approaches to their north and east. The landscape here is relatively low-lying but the pillboxes have been positioned to take advantage of a slight rise just below the Hoo St Werburgh ridge, providing the pillboxes with greater fields of fire.
PILLBOX 1
A hexagonal brick-shuttered concrete pillbox. An infantry pillbox of type 24 facing ENE across the line of the former anti-tank ditch. Lack of brickwork above the embrasures is a feature unique to this particular part of the GHQ Line, presumably particular to an individual contractor.
PILLBOX 2
A rectangular anti-tank gun emplacement of concrete construction with brick shuttering. Roof with chamfered edge. A type 28 to house a two or six-pounder quick-firing gun facing north along the stop-line. Type 28s are rarer than type 24s and are a much larger form of pillbox requiring a large rear entrance to wheel in the gun and a larger embrasure for the same, supported by smaller infantry embrasures.
PILLBOX 3
Of the same type and construction as Pillbox 2.
PILLBOX 4
Of the same type and construction as Pillbox 1, again with no brickwork above the embrasures. The pillbox faces NE.

INTERIORS: Not inspected as entrances are blocked. The type 24s will have a central Y-shaped ricochet wall. Pillbox 3 contained a plaque inscribed '1940-Hell's Corner-BY BEF' when inspected in 1977 but it is not known whether this survives.

HISTORY: The four pillboxes were constructed in 1940 as part of the Hoo Stop Line; an anti-invasion defended line stretching for approximately eight miles between the River Thames near Cliffe and the River Medway to the south-east of Hoo St Werburgh. The building of defence works to protect against German invasion began in June 1940 following the defeat of British forces in Europe and the return of many troops from Dunkirk. Stop-lines were essentially anti-tank obstacles intended to check the advance of fast moving columns of armoured troops and they were also intended as prepared battlefields for the Field Army to defend in the event of invasion.
The Hoo Stop Line was part of the principal stop-line; the GHQ (General Headquarters) Line which ran from the North Somerset Coast to the east of London and then, parallel with the east coast, to Yorkshire. The GHQ line across the Hoo peninsula took the form of an artificial anti-tank ditch dug to join the Medway and Thames rivers. This was supported by pillboxes, anti-tank rails and road blocks. The War Office plan for this line indicates a total of sixty infantry and eighteen anti-tank pillboxes enclosing the higher ground containing the Lodge Hill and Chattenden Ordnance Depots (now the Royal School of Military Engineering's Lodge Hill Camp and Chattenden Barracks). Each individual component would have been encircled in barbed wire for extra protection. There were probably also other earthworks in further support which are now lost, such as slit trenches.
The Hoo peninsula was a heavily militarised zone during the Second World War with Hoo itself designated as a defended village in 1941 with its own garrison. A further one hundred troops from the 347th Searchlight Battery, Royal Artillery were located at Kingshill Camp to the west of Bell Lane. High Halstow village to the north and the Royal Navy Ammunition Dump at Lodge Hill were also garrisoned. The stop line was intended to provide a man-made defence against invasion given the low lying topography and coastal access. Subtle changes in gradient were used to site the various defensive components to best advantage in the protection of the higher ground and Ordnance depots.

SOURCES:
W. Foot, Defence Areas: a national study of Second World War anti-invasion landscapes in England (2004), English Heritage and the Council for British Archaeology.
W. Saunders & V. Smith, Kent's Defence Heritage, Site KD164 Hoo St. Werburgh to Lodge Hill Line of Pillboxes(2001), Kent County Council.
War Office document, Hoo Stop Line (reference WO 166/4297): sketch plan and list of infantry and anti-tank pillboxes

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE:
Although pillboxes are one of the most common surviving types of structures from the Second World War this group is of special interest given the rarer form of pillboxes here and has particular group value: the location of two gun emplacements in close proximity, flanked by and supported by infantry pillboxes, providing a clear demonstration of the perceived weakness of the stop-line at this point and the designs of the defensive planners. The group also demonstrates the interrelationship and function of a section of the principal GHQ (General Headquarters) stop-line allowing an understanding of the country's defence, as well as the interpretation of this particular defensive landscape, in 1940.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671268

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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