Druridge Bay pillbox

Pillbox, 1940-1941.

MATERIALS: yellow sandstone, with concrete embrasures and roof, and a red-brick blast wall and chimney stack.

EXTERIOR: it is situated by the side of a minor road on an elevated coastal site, facing east over Druridge Bay. It is of non-standard type and takes the form of a rectangular pillbox with a flat roof disguised as a vernacular, ruined, single-storey cottage. Its stone walls are irregularly coursed with prominent quoins, and there is a tall brick-built chimney stack to the north gable. The west side facing onto the road stands to eaves height and has a centrally-placed entrance with a stone lintel and stone-block jambs, which is flanked to either side by a small gun embrasure. The left return stands to gable height and has a single concrete gun embrasure disguised as a stone window opening, and the right return is more ruinous and has an identical window and embrasure. The rear wall facing the coast is blind apart from a single concrete gun embrasure also disguised as a stone window opening. It has a flat concrete roof. Each embrasure has a recess to take the timber frames of mock windows

INTERIOR: a longitudinal red-brick blast wall divides the interior into two, with access to the front of the structure around either end. The roof is of corrugated concrete and the walls are exposed stone. The three large concrete rifle embrasures have concrete shelves serving as elbow rests.