On the north side of Colchester Road, half underneath the side of the arch formed between piers 6 and 7 of Chappel Viaduct, is a 19ft 6in type infantry pillbox. It is hexagonal, constructed of concrete, has small loopholes and the low entrance is on the west face underneath the arch. From this position, raised above the road, the pillbox would have had an uninterrupted view of the approach down the road from the east, the expected line of attack, and would have complemented the artillery pillbox, (SMR 20001/MCC4799), on the south side of the road.

Two photos of site. <1>

SITE ASSESSMENT:
The quantity, diversity and survival of the WWII defences in the Chappel Viaduct area form a rare, interdependent, compound site. These include the four major types of pillbox on the Eastern Command Line (SMR 20000/MCC4798, 20001/MCC4799, 20004/MCC4800 and 20008/MCC4801), 28 concrete anti-tank cubes (SMR 20002/MCC5130 and 20005/MCC5132), three concrete anti-tank cylinders (SMR 20002/MCC5130) and two spigot mortar pedestals (SMR 10997/MCC5127 and 10998/MCC5128).

OCTOBER 2002: Site designated Scheduled Monument NHLE No. 1020687. This scheduled site is in seven parts. See also SMR's 10996 (MCC4797), 10997 (MCC5127), 20000 (MCC4798), 20001 (MCC4799), 20002 (MCC5130), 20004 (MCC4800), 20005 (MCC5132) and 20008 (MCC4801).

See also <2> & <3>.