Site of Second World War Road Barrier, Anglefield, Clacton-on-Sea (EHER 21223)

Site of Second World War Road Barrier, now destroyed.

WWII Defence of Clacton survey. Contemporary records state, “Concrete pimples and dannert wire. Grosvenor Court Hotel, Anglefield, Marine Parade, Garden” and “Concrete pimples and dannert wire. No, 41, Anglefield, Grosvenor Court Annexe, Front garden.” <1> This road barrier was of the removal type with rows of sockets across the roadway. These were flanked by anti-tank pimples, in the garden of the Grosvenor Court Hotel on the west side of Anglefield and in the garden of the annex on the east side. Both sockets and pimples can be clearly seen on an aerial photograph taken in July 1941. Around 20 pimples in five rows can be made out on the west side, with four rows of sockets across the carriageway and around 30 pimples in five rows on the east side. <2> <3> Site visit by F. Nash, 2007 In 2007, the Grosvenor Court Hotel has now been replaced by an apartment block similarly called Grosvenor Court. No, 41, the annex still survives, as Marinor Court. A sunken patch of tarmac in the centre of the road, of the “right” size, could well be the site of one of the steel sockets, long since taken up and the holes filled in. <4>