Minefield tower..burnham on crouch,essex

After staying in Essex for the night,I thought I would give this place a visit,one of only two with the other being in Scotland near Oban..the trek was a bit longer than I thought,nearly two hours to get there,I decided not to take my tripod and did not get many shots,when I got there.there was a dyke between me and the tower,so finding the narrowest point I went across.did get slightly muddy feet though..the tower is very foreboding as you approach it.built during the Second World War to defend the estuary,this estuary was not considered a threat by the army at the start of the war,but with the occupation of Germany and the threat of invasion serious,the estuary was deemed a point were the Germans could invade and have a quick and easy route to London.so the tower was built along with several pillboxes along the sea wall.mainly double ones.with one facing seawards and the other side facing the land..the tower is heavily constructed.with the lower floor having seventeen machine gun apertures over two levels giving a 360 degree firing range,heading up top is a further six gun holes,very heavily fortified...was this worth the two hour walk there,and two hour walk back with smelly,muddy feet.i think so,plus it was nice to get out and do a military site again.

The dyke as you approach the tower,after the walk i was not going to be beaten.i fleet footed across a muddy narrow bit,but did find a metal plate on the way back which let me walk straight back across.i should look more carefully really

'Take a seat on this bench atop of this WW2 defence post and enjoy the tranquilty of the harbour'...nice juxtaposition to that pic. Cool tower too...like it.

Ahh concrete heaven,thanks

There is another one in east tilbury, next to coal house fort

Cheers newage

Nice collection of concrete.

love the tower

Freakin' sweet XDO post! Accessible and with some shuttering left too! Nice!