| Summary : A Second World War military road and tank hard standing platform, visible as a structure, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1946. Located on Minehead's North Hill, the features are associated with the extensive military training area and tank firing range that covered North Hill during the war. The concrete access road runs roughly NW-SE from the N-S aligned road which leads off Hill Road, at the W end Moor Wood. Constructed by the military, the road leads into the SE corner of a rectangular area on the hillslope. It is suggested that this area functioned as a tank wash down facility prior to departure from the firing range area. Seven small triangular obstacles are thought to act as emergency stops to prevent vehicles running downslope from the platform. A small rectangular building is visible midway down the hard standing platform which may have held a high pressure wash machine. In both corners of the NNE side, linear features of unknown function extend downslope. The features are still visible in 2001, heavily overgrown. |
More information : A concrete road and stance lie on North Hill, west of Moor Wood, centred at SS 95233 47701. They were part of the WWII tank training area and were recorded as part of the RCHME survey of the ENPA holding on North Hill. Full details in survey report (1).
SS 9530 4759 A Second World War military road and tank hard standing platform, visible as a structure, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1946. Located on Minehead's North Hill, the features are associated with the extensive military training area and tank firing range that covered North Hill during the war. The 3 metres wide concrete access road runs roughly NW-SE (SS 9524 4769 to SS 9538 4749) for about 240 metres from the N-S aligned road which leads off Hill Road, at the W end Moor Wood. Constructed by the military, the road leads into the SE corner of a rectangular area on the hillslope (SS 9524 4770) about 22.5 metres long NNE-SSW and 20 metres wide WNW-ESE. It is suggested that this area functioned as a tank wash down facility prior to departure from the firing range area. Along 12 metres of the NNE side of the hard standing, seven triangular obstacles with sides about 0.7 metres, are visible which are thought to act as emergency stops to prevent vehicles running downslope. A small rectangular building, about 3.3 by 2.7 metres, is visible midway down the ESE side of the hard standing. In both corners of the NNE side, a linear feature of unknown function extends downslope. In the NE corner, the linear feature is about 41 metres long and 2 metres wide. In the NW corner, the linear feature is about 62 metres long and 3.3 metres wide. The features are still visible in 2001, heavily overgrown. (3-5) |