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Summary

Machine gun type pillbox with blast wall and a door on south side. Visible as a structure on aerial photographs taken from 1947 onwards. Part of the Wadbrook defence area on the Second World War Taunton Stop Line.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: World War II pillbox, about 300 metres south-east of Wadbrook Farmhouse, part of the Taunton Stop Line

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 1417420
• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST30SW/125

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, CPE/UK/1974/3421 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363126.

Pillbox visible on 1947 RAF aerial photo. Rectangular Heavy Machine Gun type with blast wall and door on south side. Faces westnorthwest sweeping the Axe and Axe bridge.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FP 3420-3421 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

A six-sided structure with a small rectangular structure to the south is visible.

Wills, H., 1985, Pillboxes. A Study of UK Defences 1940, 76 (Monograph). SDV336210.

Wills lists rectangular north-west facing concrete pillbox at ST327015.

Horner, B., 1993, Pillboxes and Roadblocks (Site Visit). SDV360454.

Site visit 14th May 1993. The site does not appear to be extant when viewed from Wadbook-Axe bridge road.

Horner, B., 1994, Taunton Stop Line Survey (Personal Comment). SDV360458.

Site visit 4th October 1994. The concrete gun platform is still extant within the pillbox and the detached blast wall is still in good condition.

Dangerfield, M.E. + Dangerfield, J.D. + Tibbles, N., 1997, Pillbox at Wadbrook (Worksheet). SDV325641.

Type 28 Pillbox, thick walled. Concrete gun platform still in place. Blockwork outside has weathered brick lining, concrete roof and bench and concrete blast wall are in very good condition.

Dobinson, C. S., 1998, The Taunton Stop Line. Component Listing, 6 (Report - non-specific). SDV109230.

Vickers MG pillbox of type FW3/27.

Foot, W., 2005, Defence Areas. A National Study of Second World War Anti-Invasion Landscapes in England, D04-Wadbrook-S0001314, p3, Fig. 5 (Report - Survey). SDV360266.

Site visit 14th January 2003. Wadbrook defence area. Vickers machine gun emplacement. Externally faced with breeze blocks. Concrete gun table. Brick-lined inside. Large west facing embrasure. Detached external blast wall. No access without permission. In good condition.
Described as a fine example of a Vickers medium machine gun emplacements. One of two such emplacements that stand close together on the brow of a hill overlooking the river Axe.

Google, 2015, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 15-AUG-2016 ACCESSED 10-APR-2017 (Aerial Photograph). SDV359580.

The very western edge of the structure is visible.

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

A small six-sided structure, 4 by 5.5 metres, is visible on aerial photographs taken from 1947 onwards, with a smaller structure half a metre to the south visible on the 1940s aerial photographs. It corresponds to the location of a Second World War pillbox forming part of the 1940 Taunton Stop Line. The detached structure to the south appears to be a blast wall but has either been removed or obscured by tree cover on recent aerial photographs. Only the very western edge is visible on the recent aerial photographs, with the rest obscured by vegetation. Not all of the structure visible on the 1940s aerial photographs is depicted on the modern mapping so it has been transcribed.

Ordnance Survey, 2017, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359962.

The main structure is depicted but not the blast wall.

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. 6.
SDV325641	Worksheet: Dangerfield, M.E. + Dangerfield, J.D. + Tibbles, N.. 1997. Pillbox at Wadbrook. Defence of Britain Project. Worksheet + Digital.
SDV336210	Monograph: Wills, H.. 1985. Pillboxes. A Study of UK Defences 1940. Pillboxes. Hardback Volume. 76.
SDV356127	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/1974. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FP 3420-3421 11-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #93271 ]
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
SDV359580	Aerial Photograph: Google. 2015. Google Earth Pro. Various. Digital. EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 15-AUG-2016 ACCESSED 10-APR-2017.
SDV359962	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2017. MasterMap. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital.
SDV360266	Report - Survey: Foot, W.. 2005. Defence Areas. A National Study of Second World War Anti-Invasion Landscapes in England. Council for British Archaeology/English Heritage. Digital. D04-Wadbrook-S0001314, p3, Fig. 5.
SDV360454	Site Visit: Horner, B.. 1993. Pillboxes and Roadblocks. Not Applicable.
SDV360458	Personal Comment: Horner, B.. 1994. Taunton Stop Line Survey. Not Applicable.
SDV363126	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. CPE/UK/1974/3421. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper).

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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