Monument record MCC5318 - WWII Pillbox (destroyed, N end of Bluebottle Grove, Lexden, Colchester

Summary

Pillbox (destroyed).

Location

Grid reference TL 9739 2460 (point)
Map sheet TL92SE
Non Parish Area COLCHESTER, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

The western defence line around Colchester clearly used the Bluebottle Grove section of Lexden Dyke as an anti-tank obstacle as pillboxes overlooked it from its east bank and the wartime anti-tank ditch continued the path of the dyke from its southern end. At the north end of Bluebottle Grove a pillbox can be seen on May 1946 aerial photographs.<1>

It is a large, hexagonal type with its entrance on the NE face, probably of the same 20’ across pattern as those seen on the Eastern Command Line north and northwest of Colchester. This pillbox is recorded in contemporary documentation, "O.S. No. 1227 - Pillbox and apron wire ... Magazine Fruit Farm, Park Road. Map ref. 422429" (Mil. Ed.).<2> Nothing now survives in this location.

See also <3> & <4>.

Sources/Archives (4)

  • <1> AP: RAF. 1946. 106G-UK 1492-4276.
  • <2> LIST: unknown. 1968. War Time Contraventions 1968. Colchester.
  • <3> Unpublished document: Nash, Fred. 2007. SURVEY OF WORLD WAR TWO DEFENCES IN THE BOROUGH OF COLCHESTER. VOLUME 1. Volume 1.
  • <4> Unpublished document: Nash, Fred. 2007. SURVEY OF WORLD WAR TWO DEFENCES IN THE BOROUGH OF COLCHESTER. VOLUME 2. Volume 2.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (0)

Record last edited

Jun 17 2020 10:22AM

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