Wwii Concrete Infantry Section Post

CARHAMPTON

444/0/10010 B3191 12-JAN-10 Blue Anchor (North of) WWII Concrete Infantry Section Post

II A rectangular pillbox of bunker-like appearance with two wings, known as an infantry section post, built in the summer of 1940. The structure includes a substantial three sided concrete wall protecting a covered gallery to the rear. The concrete is of a very rough character, including large beach pebbles to the roof, possibly for camouflage. There are four embrasures in each of the side walls and three in the front. One of the embrasures in each of the side walls is much larger and was designed to accommodate a heavy machine gun. The gallery was accessed via a pair of (now blocked) entrances facing to the rear. To the rear of the central pillbox is a horse-shoe shaped hollow defined by a concrete revetment. This represents the site of a gun position.

HISTORY: After the defeat at Dunkirk in May 1940, Britain was faced with the prospect of imminent invasion. To counter this danger, an anti-invasion plan was developed by General Sir Edmund Ironside, Commander-in-Chief Home Forces who created a series of static defence lines which were largely in place by the end of the year. The coastal defences included a series of closely spaced pillboxes and other obstacles manned by the Home Guard. The Somerset coast was protected by a series of defences including coastal batteries, anti-tank blocks and girders, gun emplacements, cones, infantry section posts, slit trenches and large numbers of pillboxes. The infantry section posts were constructed in the period between June and September 1940 and the ad hoc K1 Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry from the Infantry Training Centre in Taunton was responsible for most of the work. The defended locality known as Blue Anchor Bay included at least 12 pillboxes, an infantry section post, an anti-tank girder and obstacles. This infantry section post was built to protect a length of beach which it was believed was susceptible to glider attack, and to defend the nearby railway station.

SOURCES: Somerset Historic Environment Record 35367 National Monument Record No. ST 04 SW 95 Defence of Britain Database S0001569 Foot, W., 2004, Defence Areas: a national study of Second World War anti-invasion landscapes in England. English Heritage and the Council for British Archaeology.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION The Second World War infantry section post on the beach at Blue Anchor, Carhampton is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * The structure represents a unique survival of a rare form of pillbox * The structure is an integral part of a nationally important defensive landscape * The structure is closely associated with a contemporary gun position * The structure provides an insight into anti-glider tactics