Pillbox

This is a Type 24 pillbox constructed in 1940 as part of a national defence programme against the threat of German invasion during the Second World War. It is located on the former Western Command Stop Line No.8, between Shrewsbury and Newport, and on to Nantwich.

The pillbox is built of reinforced concrete with timber battens formerly used for shelving. The design is an irregular hexagon, set upon a square concrete plinth, and situated within a grass embankment. The exterior has plain grey concrete walls and a concrete roof, with five walls featuring single openings, or embrasures. The west-facing wall has rifle loopholes either side of a central doorway.

The interior features a concrete, T-shaped anti-ricochet wall and two timber battens fixed to the outer wall; some modern graffiti is also present.

This particular pillbox is a rare example of a Type 24 design constructed to a two-storey height, incorporating a concrete plinth, and is the only known example of this variation. It stands on a raised plinth, from which it monitored movements along the Newcastle Road and Shropshire Union Canal. Construction of pillboxes ceased in February 1942 due to design inflexibility and cost. The pillbox retains significant intactness and legibility of its original function, and represents a key point on the former stop line, providing a defensive position covering both the road and the canal, and forming a group with the adjacent canal bridge.