Site of Second World War Machine-Gun Post, East of Cockett Wick Farm (EHER 21257)

Site of Machine-Gun Post (destroyed) on the East edge of Field OS 850, Cockett Wick Farm. One of two brick Machine Gun Posts within this field.

WWII Defence of Clacton survey War Time Contraventions 1968 for St. Osyth contain a compound entry for a number of defence sites spread across four fields of Cockett Wick Farm. They read as follows: ‘(a) 2 brick M.G. posts E. boundary. O.S. No. 850 – arable’, ‘(b) sandbagged weapon pit in ditch. Field N. of (a)’, ‘(c) 5 brick M.G. posts and weapon pit S. boundary. O.S. No. 849 – grass’ and ‘(d) 2 weapon pits, S. side. O.S. No. 839 – arable’. <1> The recording of WWII sites in Essex encompasses those sites built of concrete, brick and steel – the ‘hard’ sites. Sandbagged positions are not, generally, recorded; (b) and (d) have not therefore been included. The parish boundary runs from north to south between the four fields, which lie as a square quartet, with Field Nos. 838 (N) and 850 (S) in Clacton and Field Nos. 839 (N) and 849 (S) in St. Osyth. The two machine-gun posts in Field No. 850 therefore lie within the boundary of Clacton-on-Sea. The five machine-gun posts, astonishingly extant along the hedge line between Field Nos. 839 and 849, are in St. Osyth. The two Clacton machine-gun posts are covered by SMR Nos. 21256 – 21257. The five St. Osyth machine-gun posts are 21260 – 21264. The four fields lie on a high rise in the landscape looking down across open terrain towards the coast. The positions were clearly designed as a strongpoint, sweeping the countryside with fire. The two machine-gun posts can be seen on a low-level aerial photograph taken in 1948. They stood just inside the east boundary of Field No. 850, about 30 yards apart, angled to present a corner to North, South, East and West. They were small, square, with earth piled on the roof as a camouflage, undoubtedly of the same design as the five survivors. However, aerial photographs taken in March 1955 show that they were gone by that time and subsequent photographs show the positions totally cleared and returned to agriculture. <2> <3> <4> <5> Visited in January 2008, most of Field No. 850 is now a reservoir with the positions of the two machine-gun posts immediately alongside its East edge. The hedge itself has gone and the terrain up to the reservoir embankment, including the position of the machine-gun posts, is now open agricultural field. At the north side of this field the last remains of the posts lie in the grass, a few pieces of brickwork and broken concrete with rusted re-enforcements rodding. <7> One photo of site. <6>