Monument record MDO28612 - Second World War pillbox, Branksome Chine, Bournemouth

A Second World War pillbox is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s covering the exit of Branksome Chine to the beach front. The pillbox is rectangular in shape with the northwest corner cut off . It does not conform to known designs for pillboxes during this period.

A pillbox which fits no standard layout, being a basically rectangular shape but with the N corner cut off. 4 x embrasures. Brick-shuttered, with finely-pointed brick work. The embrasures and two entrances (high and low-level) are all bricked up. On the W side, the concrete foundation slab is exposed. The beach is some 150 yards away, and the pillbox would have covered a 'chine' (or valley) leading away from the beach towards Westbourne. Branksome Chine: at the S end of The Avenue, on an embankment on the W side just before the road bears SW, then runs parallel with the beach. <1-3>

A Second World War pillbox is visible on aerial photographs <4> of the 1940s covering the exit of Branksome Chine to the beach front. The pillbox is rectangular in shape with the northwest corner cut off . It does not conform to known designs for pillboxes during this period. The site is not visible on the most recent comprehensive aerial imagery available to the project. <5> This site was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Council for British Archaeology, 1995, Defence of Britain Project, S0013840 (Digital archive). SWX5.

<2> Council for British Archaeology, 2003, Defence of Britain Project Database, S0013840 (Machine readable data file). SDO128.

<3> Council for British Archaeology, 2006, Defence of Britain Project Archive DEB01, S0013840 (Excavation archive). SDO17227.

<4> Royal Air Force, 11-OCT-1945, RAF 106G/T10/PART I 7025-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12599.

<5> Channel Coastal Observatory, 15-OCT-2010, CCO Aerial Photographic Coverage 2009 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12622.

Record last edited

Aug 29 2024 1:11PM