The anti-tank ditch which ran from Colchester Cemetery to Abberton Reservoir (SMR 20550/MCC5336) crossed Oxley Hill at this point. The soil marks from the filled-in ditch can be clearly seen on an aerial photograph taken in April 1946.<1> Here, there would have been a road barrier and some of the anti-tank pimples which were the fixed elements on each side of the road still survive.

Buried deep in the hedge on the N side is a single pimple. There were probably more here but as the bank drops sharply perhaps no more than 2 or 3. There are none in situ on the S side of the road but only a few yards away to the SE there lies four more pimples. These appear to have been lifted from their original position by the roadside and dropped here, in a small grassy meadow perhaps 30 yards away. Three photos of site.<2>

See also <3> & <4>.