Title: |
Silchester Corner Pillbox, Southend Road, Southchurch, Southend-on-sea |
Series: |
Essex County Council Field Archaeology Unit unpublished report series
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Downloads: |
essexcou1-15194_1.pdf (700 kB)
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Download
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Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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DOI |
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Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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Abstract: |
The Essex County Council Field Archaeology Unit recorded a World War II pillbox at Silchester Corner during widening of Southend Road for the construction of an access road for a golf course development at Bournes Green, north of Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea. The recording was carried out on behalf of Thorpe Bay Estate Company Ltd as part of a condition on planning consent. A large number of pillboxes were constructed along the Essex coast in 1940-1 as part of the coastal crust of the defences against invasion. The Silchester Corner pillbox was a modified example of the type FW3/22 design produced by Branch FW3 of the War Office Directorate of Fortifications and Works. It had previously been recorded in 1998 as part of the Defence of Britain project and in 2001 during a survey and assessment carried out for Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, but the recent recording was carried out to provide an enhanced drawn and photographic record. The pillbox was hexagonal in plan with loopholes on five sides and an entrance on the sixth. It was unusual in that it had been modified by the addition of a thick concrete skirt up to the base of the loopholes, around which steel plates were added both externally and internally. The pillbox was part of a stop-line extending from the Thames estuary to the river Roach, protecting the Southend peninsular from a landing to the east. Since it was recorded the pillbox has been demolished to meet Essex County Council Highways requirements for a clear line of sight along the realigned Southend Road. A second example of a modified type FW3/22 pillbox survives at the southern limit of the proposed Bournes Green golf course. |
Author: |
L Miciak
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Publisher: |
Essex County Council Field Archaeology Unit
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Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Essex County Council Historic Environment Records (OASIS Reviewer)
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Year of Publication: |
2006
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Locations: |
Site: |
Silchester Corner Pillbox, Southend Road |
Parish: |
SOUTHEND ON SEA |
District: |
Southend-on-Sea |
County: |
Essex |
Country: |
England |
Grid Reference: 591600, 187300 (Easting, Northing)
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Subjects / Periods: |
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Identifiers: |
OASIS Id: |
essexcou1-15194 |
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Note: |
A4 Blue Spine
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Source: |
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Relations: |
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Created Date: |
23 Nov 2016 |