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Summary

Pillbox built into the east end of the road bridge over railway on the north-east side of Axminster. Part of the Axminster fortified area on the Taunton Stop Line constructed in 1940. Visible as a small structure on aerial photographs taken from 1947 and still depicted on modern mapping.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1417338
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY29NE/256

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PILLBOX (Constructed, World War II - 1940 AD to 1940 AD)

Full description

Royal Engineers, 1940, Plans of Taunton Stop Line, Axminster Union & RD (Cartographic). SDV325259.

Pillbox marked on Royal Engineer's plan as S.38.

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Structure visible.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FP 1424-1425 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

A small hexagonal structure is visible.

Horner, B., 1993, Weycroft Site Visit (Site Visit). SDV356798.

Site visit 6th February 1993. Pillbox built into east end of road bridge over railway. Visible from Axminster-Chard Road. Appears to be polygonal type FW3/24.

Hayne, D. + Weston, H., 1996, Pillbox near Cloakham Railway Bridge (Worksheet). SDV356793.

Hexagonal pillbox on the south side of Cloakham Drive railway line bridge. Thickly overgrown with ivy and brambles.

Dobinson, C. S., 1998, The Taunton Stop Line. Component Listing, 4 (Report - non-specific). SDV109230.

Pillbox of type FW3/22 with 3ft 6in walls.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2016-2018, The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV359463.

A hexagonal Second World War concrete, brick and breezeblock pillbox that forms part of the 1940-1941 Taunton Stop Line is visible as flat-roofed structure, up to 6.5 metres wide, on aerial photographs taken from 1947 onwards.
The 1940s RAF prints held by Historic England have been recorded here as additional sources because there is a possibility that the prints may have been processed differently to those held by Devon County Council. This would potentially result in images on which archaeological features show slightly differently.
It was recorded as extant on a site visit in the 1990s and is depicted on the modern OS mapping, so has not been transcribed as part of this project.

Ordnance Survey, 2018, MasterMap 2018 (Cartographic). SDV360652.

Pillbox shown.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV109230	Report - non-specific: Dobinson, C. S.. 1998. The Taunton Stop Line. Component Listing. Twentieth Century Fortifications in England. AI/S/3. Photocopy. 4.
SDV325259	Cartographic: Royal Engineers. 1940. Plans of Taunton Stop Line. Royal Engineers Survey Plan circa July 1940. Unknown. Axminster Union & RD.
SDV342938	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946 - 1949. Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Digital).
SDV356127	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/1974. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FP 1424-1425 11-APR-1947.
SDV356793	Worksheet: Hayne, D. + Weston, H.. 1996. Pillbox near Cloakham Railway Bridge. Defence of Britain Project. Worksheet + Digital.
SDV356798	Site Visit: Horner, B.. 1993. Weycroft Site Visit. Digital.
SDV359463	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2016-2018. The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. Historic England Research Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:2
SDV360652	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2018. MasterMap 2018. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital. [Mapped feature: #93105 ]

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7508 - The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme (NMP) project (Ref: ACD1228)

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