Comprised of former farmland, Wick Country Park in Wickford spans 50 acres with over 2km of walking trails. Dotted amongst the site are three pillboxes – only one of which can be accessed inside, the others have been sealed up to prevent any damage. During construction works on the park in 2001, earth excavations discovered…
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Great Wakering Old School was built in 1876. It is now a community centre and pre-school. In both the fore and rear courts of the school are two unsuspecting structures with an important history. They served most probably as air-raid shelters to defend the school pupils and staff from air-raids and bombs. Whilst the rear…
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Disguised Observation Post We started at a disguised defensive post, which when we visited in 2012 was next to the derelict Esplanade House. When we revisited in 2017, the site has been demolished and replaced with a Premiere Inn – luckily the pillbox-like structure has survived! The brick wall appears to be of classic Southend Victorian origin,…
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Situated above the White Cliffs of Dover, this iconic castle has guarded our shores from invasion for 20 centuries and is the largest castle in England. Dover Castle is owned by English Heritage and is a Scheduled Monument meaning that it’s “nationally important” and is protected from any unauthorised change. Known as the ‘Key to England’,…
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TN9 Hadleigh at Sandpit Hill was one of several heavy anti-aircraft batteries in the area – such as TN7 Furtherwick and TN8 Northwick on Canvey, and also TN10 Vange. They would’ve been used for defence in the Second World War to shoot down enemy bombers and fighters during the Blitz. It also would have been a defence…
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Do you know your Tett Turret from your Dragons Teeth? We’ve covered over 180 historic locations (and counting!) on the website, most of which are military related so we’ve devised this guide to explain all manner of World War Two Defences. Dragons teeth, or pimples or anti-tank traps, all provide the same purpose. They were…
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First visited in the summer of 2012, Bowers Gifford is home to five surviving pillboxes which would have formed part of the GHQ defence line. Fifty of these lines were built and this particular one stretched from Canvey Island up to Colchester and would have been the first line of defence for London. Around 400…
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What is RAF Hornchurch? Hornchurch Country Park covers almost 105 hectares on the former site or RAF Hornchurch. Used today by dog walkers, fishermen and families; many historic remains are scattered around the park and we went to explore what still survives from the Second World War. The airfield has existed since 1915 as ‘Sutton…
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As you should know if you’re either a budding historian or keen BTP reader, Watt Tyler country park is situated on the GHQ line – the 1st line of defence in WW2 against a German assault on the capital. Whilst the majority of the park’s history is focused on it as an early 20th Century…
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Paglesham is a vast expanse of mostly rural land surrounded by earthen seawalls of the common pre-North Sea Flood style witnessed across the Essex coastline. These protect it from the River Crouch and Roach. As well as requiring protection from the water, in 1940 it needed protection from what might exploit these waterways. Operation Sealion…
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