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Summary

World War II Tank Inpsection Pit, Stover Park, Teigngrace

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MOTOR TRANSPORT PARK (World War II - 1939 AD to 1945 AD (Between))

Full description

Harris, R., 12/04/2015, World War II Tank Inspection Pit and an American Base, Stover (Correspondence). SDV358103.

A tank inspection pit hidden in the woods where various equipment such as tanks were also stored is still visible.

The area was part of an American camp leased to the Americans by the Ayliffe family and was covered in Nissen Huts at the end of the war. Today the concrete roads left by the Americans are only a few inches below the soil and their presence is most noticeable in dry summers. When the field is left for hay the grass growth in the concreted areas is noticeably poor.

Dimensions: Concrete Surround: 24ft x 9ft Inspection Pit: 18ft x 2ft 6ins.
Normally this feature is covered in leaves and not visible from the nearby Templer Way footpath.
Other evidence of the American's visit was discovered some years after the war ended when it was decided to fell some of the timber in the woods. When it was sent to the sawmills the wood was found to be full of nails which damaged the saws! The explanation was that the American troops had hammered nails into the trees when erecting camouflage nets and washing lines. Consequently a load of felled timber was left in the woods and piles of it still remain now decaying on the woodland floor.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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