Culham - Red Stop Line

[sennelager66]

Deciding to chance my luck with the weather, i took the gamble and went back out and headed towards the area of Shillingford and Culham. I deliberately missed out the swathe of pillboxes in the area of Clifton Hampden, Little Wittenham, just south of Dorchester with the intention of taking in this area on my next visit. All in all the weather held off until the end of the day when the intermittent drizzle settled into a steady downpour. By then my boots were covered in cloying mud, the lower half of my legs wet through and it was time to make my way home. I finally caught a gun emplacement which meant wading through head height nettles but it was a relief when i got to it. For a change not too many fails today on those i intended to get to so a happy man drove back home.

Taking the route of the A329 out of Mouslford i parked up and attempted to take in 4 locations. I got to two and despite my best efforts i could not get to the gun emplacement located between the Thames and the location below. The AT blocks further up the rail line and located on a farm track seem to have vanished. Shame.

ANTI TANK BLOCK: S0012058
Waterloo Bridge. I counted three in total.

Heading down the path towards the farm track and bridge which should have had the blocks and cylinders i saw this cylinder. Possibly a remnant of what existed but i am not too sure.

Attempting to locate the gun emplacement located in the copse of trees running along the rail embankment i decided to take in the type 22 which is located to the side of Moulsford Railway Bridge. On the opposite bank is another 22 which i shall take in when i research the opposite bank. I failed to get to the gun emplacement due to the heavy undergrowth and horses in the field i would have needed to enter. As it was overlooked by housing i will need to refine my approach to get to it.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0012059

Slightly disappointed but also needing to push onto my main objectives of the day i then drove up to Shillingford and parked up and walked back to Shillingford bridge to get to the AT block and hopefully the gun emplacement there. I was determined to have some success and it finally paid off. Getting to the gun emplacement was a beast of a job which as i mentioned meant crossing boggy ground. The foliage was a heavy mix of thistles, nettles at head height and the suspicious look of plants that usually surround boggy marsh. I was expecting to walk into a hidden stream or pond as it was impossible to determine what i was walking into.

ANTI TANK BLOCK: S0012037
Shillingford Bridge.

GUN EMPLACEMENT: S0012038
Located on the opposite bank and in a copse of trees. Scaling over the fence proved interesting with me finding a fallen tree to use buy still slipping and falling as i got over the fence!

Within the same are of Shillingford Bridge is a Type 22 which i decided to miss out of and so i continued up to Culham. Parking up near Old Culham Bridge i then took in the pillboxes in the area. The drizzle has gone for now so it was quite a pleasant walk around the field between Culham Lock and the Thames. Firstly i went to Culham bridge.

The site of two type 28's which have been removed. The bases are still evident.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0012023

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28): S0012022

Heading into Culham itself i parked up to investigate the type 22 which was on the left hand side just before the turning in the road. Fairly easy to get to as there was an easy cutting through the hedge. The pillbox is heavily covered in ivy and a proven dumping ground for rubbish.

It is in there somewhere.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0012025

Taking the walk along the north path of Culham Lock and then crossing the bridge further to the west and heading down towards the Thames.

Located in the same section of field and further east towards Sutton Courtenay bridge, the 28 would have had a covering field of fire of the bridge.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0007166
Interesting is the lipped entrance and no evidence of a ramp. Corrugated shuttering.

Part of the shuttering still in place.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0009811


Set up on the ridge overlooking the Thames and used as an extension of the ROC post which is located next to it. The pillbox was originally closed off externally in internally as a result. Information states this was originally a live site in 1968. There is a viewing platform on the roof of the pillbox which i understand was used to spot planes. I did sneak into the ROC post and take some photos but will leave them out of this report. I eventually located the pillbox after almost thinking i wouldn't find it and it was heavily hidden in the tree line.

Heading back towards Clifton Hampden and parking up at Culham Rail station i walked over the road to Zouch Farm. Sat behind the farm and a southern facing gun embrasure.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0012026
No internals were taken of this due to the proximity of the house and the personal property stored inside.

Finally the last two pillboxes of the day. Both sat east of the rail line with the type 22 sat on the opposite side of the field and the 28 located at the bottom of the embankment and covering what would be a western approach along the Thames. By now the drizzle was steady but tolerable. As i finished up photographing the 28, the rain well and truly set in and i called it a day.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0012027
East of Appleford Railway Bridge.

PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28A): S0007177

 

[night crawler]

Nice work Senn . The fourth block at Cholsey is on the other side of the road and nearly slipping into the railway. If you like I'll come with you next time if you want to see the gunpit. The six down at Silly bridge were removed by the dam farmer for the base of his barn. If i'd known he was goingto do that I'd have objected on the grounds of historc value. Bloody idot.

 

[Munchh]

Good job again Senn. Isn't that last PB (not the 28) a type 24 rather than a 22, it's flat-backed isn't it? I realise you're quoting the DOB record but I tend to also suggest a different type if I think it doesn't match the description. This also highlights it to the capn as a possible correction for him to look in to. The original DOB survey seemed to label a lot of PB's as type 22 almost regradless, so it's worth a note.

Haven't seen an open gun emplacement before. Assuming it's a 6-pounder emplacement, it looks like the engineers up there actually took notice of Southern Command's directive that they should not have roofs. They seem to have ignored that directive on the TSL.

Thanks for posting.

 

[cptpies]

Isn't that last PB (not the 28) a type 24 rather than a 22

It's a shellproof 22 without the rear wall thickened, which gives it the appearance of a 24. These are unique to this area. Sketchup model below to show what I mean.

Fantastic effort as usual Senn


sp22 by cptpies, on Flickr

 

[Munchh]

It's a shellproof 22 without the rear wall thickened, which gives it the appearance of a 24. These are unique to this area.

Fantastic effort as usual Senn

I'm getting Deja vu again capn lol, you've pointed this out to me before, it's about the wall angles isn't it?. I'm just not used to seeing an irregular hexagonal 22, Sorry Senn.

Is there such a thing as a regular hexagonal shellproof 22? I'm starting to feel like my knowledge is slipping away with age.

 

[cptpies]

I'm getting Deja vu again capn lol, you've pointed this out to me before, it's about the wall angles isn't it?. I'm just not used to seeing an irregular hexagonal 22, Sorry Senn.

Is there such a thing as a regular hexagonal shellproof 22? I'm starting to feel like my knowledge is slipping away with age.

Yup there are "normal" SP22's too, I assume this expedient was to save on concrete.

 

[night crawler]

Here is some trivia for you , they were built by Boshers of Cholsey, there were three contractors along that area and all have gone bust except Boshers. I contacted them about any pland they may have but there are none only for some air raid shelters. The Owner remembers his did telling him about the building of them.

 

[sennelager66]

I have thought about delving into the national archives at Kew and this is something for the future for me. I need to understand more about what i am looking at and clearly i am still a novice at anything i look at and study. The 28 with the lip on the entrance for instance throws up intriguing questions for me as there is no function there to get a gun into position. Perhaps this was a design fault or some temporary measure such as a ramp was built into the design spec of the PB. If so it seems a little strange to deviate from a standard design. There is also no external ramp so perhaps this PB S0007166 was an afterthought.

If i find something i do PM the captain and he has acted on the information supplied in a report.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm getting there with the knowledge and i find the small idiosyncracies during the field reports a pleasure.

 

[krela]

I'm not sure there is much detail on the Red Stop Line at the NRA. I've spent a good few days there now.

 

[sennelager66]

Any information for me is good information. I need to be a sponge.

 

[outkast]

It's a shellproof 22 without the rear wall thickened, which gives it the appearance of a 24. These are unique to this area. Sketchup model below to show what I mean.

Fantastic effort as usual Senn


sp22 by cptpies, on Flickr

I am sure there is a shellproof type 22 near chelmsford in essex

from what I can see of the gun emplacement it, with the undergrowth cleared it may look something like this one wich is just south of abingdon airfield

 

[flyboys90]

Great report really enjoyed that.

 

[sennelager66]

Checking for signs of the plinth and holdfasts there was no evidence in the one i got to. The pit was so overgrown that i would have been fun digging around to see any evidence of this.

 

[cptpies]

What's the DoB number on that PB outkast? The angle between the side and rear walls suggest it's a 24 but it's always hard to tell on photos.

 

[leftorium]

Aren't the two pistol ports an indicator that it's a 24? Nice work sennelager... I don't know if you do requests there are a few sites round maiden Newton I've picked up from the maiden Newton at war website that could do with verification. Mostly ATBs and cylinders but a couple of potential flame fougasse sites too. Not too many of those recorded in Dorset

 

[Munchh]

Aren't the two pistol ports an indicator that it's a 24? Nice work sennelager... I don't know if you do requests there are a few sites round maiden Newton I've picked up from the maiden Newton at war website that could do with verification. Mostly ATBs and cylinders but a couple of potential flame fougasse sites too. Not too many of those recorded in Dorset

I've done a bit around Maiden Newton, which sites are you referring to?

 

[leftorium]

I'll PM you with a KMZ munchh

 

[cptpies]

Aren't the two pistol ports an indicator that it's a 24?

Not really, there are plenty of 22's with two pistol ports. Small differences like this is why the DoB has the Variant category that I hate so much. For me the internal topology is what I use, a 22 is a regular hexagon. Things like wall thickness, No. of embrasures, porches, blast walls, AR walls, AA wells, skirts etc. are just variations on the theme applied by the local engineers to suit local conditions, role, or more commonly the materials available.

 

[leftorium]

Not really, there are plenty of 22's with two pistol ports. .

I had no idea - I'll have to look at the local(ish) ones again

 

[cptpies]

Your initial thought is a good rule of thumb, but not to be relied upon