Title: |
Pillbox by Bath Road, Woolhampton, West Berkshire: Historic Buildings Investigation and Recording |
Series: |
Oxford Archaeological Unit unpublished report series
|
Downloads: |
oxfordar1-221999_1.pdf (5 MB)
:
|
Download
|
|
Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
|
DOI |
|
Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
|
Abstract: |
The current project has recorded a Type 28A pillbox, to the east of Woolhampton, prior to its removal in a residential development. The pillbox was constructed in the summer of 1940 (probably July) during a desperate attempt to defend against an anticipated attempted invasion from Nazi Germany. The pillbox was located on the GHQ Line Blue, a section of the main, fixed, defensive stop line that stretched from Bristol, beneath London and up to the fens. The pillbox would have been supplied with a 2-pounder anti-tank gun and the structure also incorporated a side infantry chamber that allowed for additional small arms fire. The main gun embrasure faced south-west, overlooking a field gently sloping down towards the railway line and the River Kennet, and it would have worked in tandem with a series of other pillboxes in the area. The structure provides a reminder of a brief but hugely significant period in 20thcentury British history, when the country appeared to be on the brink of invasion by Germany. The brief period when the pillboxes were constructed coincided with the fall of France, the evacuation of Dunkirk and the early stages of the Battle of Britain. |
Author: |
Jonathan Gill
|
Publisher: |
Oxford Archaeology
|
Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
West Berkshire HER (OASIS Reviewer)
|
Year of Publication: |
2014
|
Locations: |
Site: |
Pillbox by Bath Road |
County: |
Berkshire |
District: |
West Berkshire |
Parish: |
WOOLHAMPTON |
Country: |
England |
Grid Reference: 458510, 166620 (Easting, Northing)
|
|
Subjects / Periods: |
|
Identifiers: |
OASIS Id: |
oxfordar1-221999 |
|
Note: |
client report
|
Source: |
|
Relations: |
|
Created Date: |
25 Apr 2019 |