Second World War Pillbox, north of the Naze Tower, Walton (EHER 10624)

Standing high on the Naze, north-west of Creek Cottages, and facing NE, is an unusual iron, brick and concrete pillbox. The main feature is the firing embrasure which is fully 27 foot long and wraps round from the long 20 foot side into each of its two adjacent walls. This embrasure is 3 foot 6 inches high and is framed with iron girders 8 inches and 5 inches thick. The pillbox is constructed of brick and concrete, has two separate entrances in the rear and has the remains of a concrete pedestal, possibly a firing platform, on the floor in the centre of the main embrasure. It is not known which type of gun this pillbox was built to house.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import. Site visited by F. Nash, 1996 Standing high on the Naze, facing NE, is an unusual pillbox. It is hexagonal with sides 20 feet, 12 feet, 14 feet, 6 feet, 13 feet and 12 feet in length. The main feature is the firing aperture which is fully 27 feet long and wraps round from the long 20' side into each of its two adjacent walls. This aperture is 3'6" high and is framed with iron girders 8" and 5" thick. The pillbox is constructed of brick and concrete, has two separate entrances in the rear and has the remains of a concrete pedestal, a firing platform, on the floor in the centre of the main aperture. At this time it is not known which type of gun this pillbox was built to house. <1> <2> Two photos of site. <3> Site visited by F. Nash in February 2010 during the defence of Tendring survey: One of the two rear entrances is wider than the other, with a sloped base. This would have been the gun entry point, to enable the weapon to be wheeled in to the pillbox and clamped onto the firing pedestal. The width, and height, of the entrance is 3' 8". Six-pounder, World War One, guns were often mounted on pedestals in artillery pillboxes and this may well have been the case here. Three photos were taken. <4>