The Anti-Aircraft Command Operations Room in Merstham was built in 1951 as part of Pendell Army Camp, which was demolished to make way for the M23. The Operations Room was saved from demolition, being just metres away from the motorway. The Home Office took ownership of the site in the 1960’s before handing it over…
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During World War 2, the Deepdene hotel and grounds were taken over by Southern Railway who had chosen the site to be its emergency wartime headquarters. Making use of some existing caves, which had been there for some 300 years, building work started to turn the chalk tunnels into a bomb-proof underground control centre. In…
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As aerial bombing emerged during the Second World War so did the defences. In addition to anti-aircraft batteries the Government started to build more discreet defensive positions with a new decoy programme launched in 1940 with some 839 decoys built. Potential targets such as airfields, factories or oil refineries had decoys built in the nearby…
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Hello and welcome to our brand new Beyond the Point website! Over the past year we’ve spent a frankly insane amount of time building this new website and copying over the hundreds of articles and thousands of photos – 5,500 so far! To mark ten years of BTP we wanted to upgrade the site and…
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Shooters Hill is one of the highest points in London with a summit of 432 feet. The name is thought to date back to 1226 when the land was used for archery practise; either that or a common area for highwaymen. During the Second World War several defences were built in the area to protect…
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Stow Maries is a village and civil parish in west Essex. In September 1916, during the first World War, an airfield was established at Stow Maries for the Royal Flying Corps. By 1919 the need for airfields lessened and Stow Maries was closed. The site was then considered for development as an airfield during the…
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H.M.P. Bullwood Hall was a former women’s prison in Hockley, built in the 1960’s initially as a women’s borstal. The site was opened to house minors, although went on to hold female prisoners of any age. In 2002, six-part series ‘The Real Bad Girls’ aired on ITV. The series was filmed at Bullwood Hall and…
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The history of ‘Henley’s’ dates back to 1837 when WT Henley opened a worksop in London, manufacturing covered wires, and went on to become one of the leading electrical companies – most notably for their role in the development of submarine cables. In 1863 they won a contract with the Indian Government to build a…
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Beyond the Point has been fortunate enough to get a special tour around Fort Amherst, situated in Chatham, back in 2017. With thanks to our tour from volunteer Bill, we got to see both public and private parts of the site including some which are due to be done up later this year thanks to…
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Situated on the opposite side of the River Thames to Tilbury Fort, New Tavern Fort was one of several built to protect to London and the surrounding area. Built on the site of ‘New Tavern Inn’, construction started in the 1780’s and lasted some 13 years. In the following century, between 1865 and 1879, the…
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