Axe Valley WW2 Defences - Taunton Stop Line, Devon (Part Three)

Following on from Part Two, and continuing across the A3025 road near to the Axe Bridge, is this totally delightful Type 22 with block shuttering. This is probably my favourite pillbox to date as it was the very first one that I was able to access inside...and at the risk of sounding a bit girly, it's just so incredibly adorable!

I've visited this one several times and during one summer there were Swallows nesting inside, flitting in and out to feed their young. Interior below.

The next one along is a Type 24, also with block shuttering, situated in the field beyond. Access wasn't possible due to a fence and stream alongside it. However, the subsequent pillboxes along that route will have to be approached from the other side, and if I manage to start up my pillbox hunt again I may be able to look inside then.

Part three only contains tiny bits of this section so far as it covers a large area and there are a fair few to visit, but I thought I'd make a start and add to it when able. For now this section includes the first two pillboxes at the beginning, two at Whitford and one at Axminster. Anyone who's ever been pillbox exploring will know how arduous and time-consuming it can be. Having disabilities and unable to walk as far as I used to, plus not being able to drive, makes this section somewhat difficult for me to attempt. But I'll do my best!

The next section I visited were the two just outside the village of Whitford, below.

A Type 22 with an added concrete blast wall ante-room. Very overgrown, it was totally dark inside and impossible to get any interior photos, apart from the blast area.

The next one along in Whitford is another T24, also with an added blast wall ante-room.

I visited these during February 2010, just after major flooding. There were extra streams running around this pillbox, almost creating an island, and the interior was full of mud, much of which was also splashed up on the walls. As is often the case, I went home dragging half a field with me!

The interior (above) was very dark and forbidding. Pillboxes aren't something that worry me when exploring, but I actually felt a bit spooked in this one. Below is the view from it, with the river Coly in full spate.

This next one is the final one of this section so far. I took the photos in 2008.

Another 6pdr Anti-Tank emplacement, situated near to the bridge just west of Axminster, where there is also an Anti-Tank Block. The block can be seen through the emplacement in the photo above.

Somewhat different weather when I visited this one!

Below is this funky looking bridge over a path leading to a track across the railway line. I have no idea if it's anything to do with the defences, but I really like it, so I included it anyway. Nearby was a large concrete block, which may have been another Anti-Tank block. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of it, but will check it out properly if I make another visit.

And that concludes the final part so far. Thanks for joining me on my adventure and if you have any questions or comments please leave them below. :)

Axe Valley WW2 Defences - Taunton Stop Line, Devon (Part Two)

Following on from Part One, this stretch is from the village of Axmouth up to Boss Hill Cross near the Axe Bridge.

When I did this part I started the other way round, walking up to Colyford from where I live in Seaton, down to the bridge then following the pillbox route to Axmouth. It turned out to be quite an adventure, which included walking through several areas ankle-deep in mud and cow muck, finding myself frighteningly in the middle of a grassy bog, ripping out some of my hair on a barbed-wire fence when I crawled under it, and literally squeezing through a hedge backwards. Added to which, on the road to Axmouth I had to keep chucking myself into the hedge because of fast traffic on the narrow road, and ended up going home covered in scratches and dragging back half a field on my boots and jeans! It was great! :)

Sadly, not all of the pillboxes have survived. Two which were on the 1940 Royal Engineer Map for Axmouth couldn't be found at all. They may have been destroyed, as after the war farmers were paid £5 to demolish those on their land. Some may not have been built, as not all of them were. The next position along (above) revealed only a heap of broken bricks, and I did assume at the time that this was the remains of a demolished one. However, the farmer kindly sent me an email to say that the bricks are the remains of a chimney from his own house, that he put the rubble there himself and there was never a pillbox in that spot. Mystery solved!

This poor old T24 next along has sunk into the ground and was used as a rubbish tip at some point. Barely visible from the road, this is where I squeezed through a hedge (no damage caused I hasten to add, as it was just closely grown shrubs...although it was still a tight squeeze, mind).

The next T24 (below) is situated at the bottom of a field which is either ploughed and seeded, or is almost under water and cannot be accessed (I did try, and found myself stuck in an ever-deepening bog, which was rather scary, and much to the amusement of the farmer who was sitting on his tractor in the next field!), so I took these two photos from the road. It can just be made out between the two trees in the centre. A friend, the owner of the forum 'Derelict Places', has a photo of this view that he took just after steaming muck had been spread, and it looks as if the pillbox was under attack from mortar fire!

 

Taken at different times, the one above during May 2007 and the one below in November the following year.

Further along are two more delightful  MG Vickers Emplacements, the higher one sunk into the ground.

On one of my visits the top, sunken emplacement was the perfect place to sit with my picnic lunch and a flask of coffee; very peaceful and with perfect views all around.

The lower emplacement also has the addition of an external blast wall protecting the entrance, which the higher one doesn't have.

There was a large drum wedged between the entrance and the blast wall, possibly to stop livestock from going in and getting stuck or damaging themselves. However, I managed to get over the drum myself without suffering a broken ankle!

Interior of the lower one, below.

The view through the front embrasure, looking towards the river.

And a view (below) looking back towards them.

The next one along, a reinforced T24 (below), is nearer to the river and is surrounded by gnarled and twisty trees.

My photos inside didn't come out too well, which is a shame as it's the only reinforced T24 I've seen, this one having bracketed shelves beneath the loopholes.

There should be two more pillboxes, which I couldn't find unfortunately, so that brings us up to the last one in this section. Just before Axe Bridge, which spans the River Axe and carries the A3052 road between Exeter and Lyme Regis, sits this wonderful 6pdr Anti-tank emplacement. This is positioned in the field near to the crossroads at Boss Hill Cross.

On one of my visits there was a party of schoolchildren here, from the local primary school in Seaton, along with their teacher. They were learning about WW2 and local defences, including the Taunton Stop Line, and were making notes and sketches. It was lovely to see that children are being taught about our local remains and how they connect with the wider history.

And finally for this section, a photo taken from the eastern end of Axe Bridge, looking towards the 6pdr.

The third part continues across the A3052 road, also near to the Axe bridge, which is coming up shortly. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments below. :)

Axe Valley WW2 Defences - Taunton Stop Line, Devon (Part One)

  
Following the evacuation of Dunkirk during WW2 in 1940, the fear of invasion led to a defence plan comprising fortified 'Stop Lines' in order to delay enemy advancement until troops could be deployed where needed. Overseen by the Royal Engineers, pillboxes and other defences were constructed quickly, using local materials and some ingenious camouflage relevant to the area. The Taunton Stop Line was the major line in the South West and ran between Pawlett Hill, near Burnham-on-Sea, to Axmouth Harbour by Seaton...a distance of around 40 miles. It was designed to consist of 293 pillboxes and 15 gun emplacements, along with anti-tank blocks, defensive walls, anti-tank islands and other defences at strategic points. Construction was abandoned in 1942, when invasion seemed unlikely, and many of the defences were never manned. However, many of the pillboxes remain to this day.

The photo above shows the Coastal Artillery Beach Battery that's situated right at the end of the Taunton Stop Line, on the outermost position of Axmouth Harbour, in East Devon. Below shows the rear; behind and to the side of which are blast walls.

According to the 1940 Royal Engineer map - which I've added at the end of the article - there are two more pillboxes between the battery and the next one found, but they have either been destroyed, or are hidden by shrubs and trees on private property and cannot be seen from the road.

The next defence along (below) is this T24 which has been blocked up. The Type 24 is probably the most common, especially along the Stop Line, but with its quirky 6-sided shape with one side longer at the rear, I have to say that it's my favourite type.

I first became interested in pillboxes in early 2007. It took me a good 18 months, off and on, to research, find and document the Taunton Stop Line ones in the Axe Valley. This first part is from the harbour up to the village of Axmouth. Part Two is from there up to Boss Hill Cross near the Axe Bridge. I haven't completed all of the remaining stretch to Axminster, but Part Three contains what I have managed so far, which also includes the area around Whitford and some defences near to the railway at Axminster.

Continuing on, the following six pillboxes are situated in a series of fields on the eastern side of the Seaton to Axmouth road that runs alongside the River Axe. Fortunately there are gaps in the hedges between each field so they were quite easy to locate.

Above is a partially sunken T24, with a view of the side below.

At the end of the next field sits a row of four emplacements situated along a sloping field adjacent to the road. Lowest in the field, and overlooking the road, is a Type 24. Two sunken MG Vickers Emplacements are mid way and almost to the top of the hill is another sunken Type 24.

The following photo shows the two MG Vickers in the distance. The T24 is situated on the far left of the gap in the hedge at the lower left, whereas the upper T24 is quite high up and can't be seen from this angle.

 Below is the lowest T24 overlooking the road and river.

 The two MG Vickers on the hill.

 

The lower emplacement, partially overgrown, and a close-up showing some detail of the embrasure (below).

The higher MG Vickers, below.

A great view and also a perfect place to sit with a flask of coffee and a ciggy. ;) 

Above that is the sunken T24 (below), which can't be seen clearly as it's totally overgrown with mature trees sprouting around and through it.

The view from here is amazing, and an excellent one to enable sight of any enemy action.

As I turned to go back down the hill I spotted what looked like another T24 much further up. I knew there wasn't one indicated on the 1940 Royal Engineers map but as I was there I decided to investigate. It was an almost vertical climb through knee-high wet grass and bracken, but the closer I got the more convinced  there was another emplacement there on the edge of a hollow amongst some gnarly trees. Long oblong shape with loopholes in the right places: definitely a pillbox, so I continued on. It wasn't until I was almost on top of the damn thing that I realised it was an almost perfect oblong made up of clumps of dead bracken. Talk about camouflage in reverse!

Further along in the next field there's a block-shuttered T24. Unfortunately I was unable to get close enough as it's fenced off and surrounded by deep clumps of undergrowth, but I did get a partial sighting from the road, below.

That concludes this first section. There is another T24 before the Axmouth turn-off, but it's well tucked into the grounds of private property and unseen from the road. Now used as a viewing platform, I could see the remains of wooden fencing indicating a look-out, but not enough to verify the actual pillbox itself.

Part Two will be coming up shortly and please feel free to leave any comments below. :)

EDIT:

I've now added copies from the Imperial War Museum of the 1940 Royal Engineer maps in this area from Axmouth to Axminster. To make them readable just click on them to enlarge. 

The first one, below, is from Axmouth Harbour up to Axmouth Village.

The second, below, is from Axmouth village through Boss Hill Cross and along the Axminster Road towards the turn off to Whitford village.

And below is the third map showing Whitford with its defences and the pillboxes along by the River Axe going north up to Axminster.

The next is the document containing the keys to the notations on the maps.