Seaton Deleval, Northumbria Anti Tank nest

Hello all
Seen this thing a few times in the past and never gave it much thought but recently in the area I had another look.
Is it what I think it is? A disguised emplacement for a anti tank gun. Bit of a odd location, as it doesnt face the road out of Seaton Sluice to Seaton Deleval but faces into a field.
I can only assume the idea was to mine the road, drive any tanks into the field and then pick them off.
Any thoughts appreciated.

Inside the defence



The corner


The field of fire


One of the two side firing points


Second side point


Front firing point


Cheers
Andy

Hiya taliesin,

The following thread might help you with posting up your pics...look forward to seeing them. Welcome to DP, btw.

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=6744

taliesin said:

Hello all
Seen this thing a few times in the past and never gave it much thought but recently in the area I had another look.
Is it what I think it is? A disguised emplacement for a anti tank gun. Bit of a odd location, as it doesnt face the road out of Seaton Sluice to Seaton Deleval but faces into a field.
I can only assume the idea was to mine the road, drive any tanks into the field and then pick them off.
Any thoughts appreciated.
I'm still trying to work out how to uplad the photos
Cheers
Andy

Click to expand...

Hi taliesin. Welcome to the forum.

I think that the placements you are meaning have been done on here by myself and BigLoada. Are they the ones located near Seaton Delaval Hall?

Try a search for pillbox, New hartley.

Seaton Deleval/New Harley?

Hello
First thank you, I have as you will find, discovered the photo ability....and intend to use it!
Also Sausage, I has noticed you were a local and done some useful work.
I'm about to upload a few of the mausoleum, which deserves a site of its own!

Ah ha, just checked the New Hartley photos. No, not that. I dont really know what to call it. A camauflaged ambush postion possibly but not a pillbox
Cheers
Andy

I'll stand to be corrected by those with more knowledge but i don't think it was built as a WW2 era defence.....Looking at the stone work which has been laid with what looks like a lime and ash mix .....if it was WW2 era i think it would have been built using a sand /cement mix....far stronger... a wall built of lime and ash would blow apart rather easy with a HE shell from summat like a tank wouldn't it?...... and the general style of the walling I reckon it dates from well before that period but maybe...just maybe... it was altered to serve as a defensive position in the war???????
...... the construction appears to be more like that associated with the an earlier era...
especially the capping stones ...........they are way to expensive to have been made for a gun emplacement and look more like the kind of cap usually seen on stone walls from the Victorian era....you sure this isn't some kind of animal enclosure that was altered perhaps to use as a defensive position???? those embrasures do look as though they were knocked in at a later time and then hurriedly tidied up with a bit of wartime era compo ???????....maybe ?????????????

Ah ha! I had forgotten about this one. Opposite lookout farm. The field was used by the home guard as a training site.

When local farmers have used this field for potatoes they have to do a "stone pick" using a machine proir to planting. On just about every occasion they have brought up grenades. Practice ones I think.

Well done for spotting this site though - I bet very few locals know of it.

It's just a plain old loophole, for a rifle.

Anti-tank gun embrasures are about 10 times bigger and have 4ft thick walls

Ah well, I suppose if your only using it for drill, a totally impractical blow appart stone wall, is as good as anything.
Ummm note to self, dont go near the place in potato harvesting time

Never heard of hot potatoes? These ones are just really hot.....:icon_evil

When I was young the farmer there had potatoes in. It rained so much that at harvest time the machinery got stuck so the crop was abandoned. My dad, being very thrifty, asked if he could help himself. The answer was yes and whenever we could we would take a bicycle there and fill sacks till we had a full bike load. Bags across the crossbar, through the frame etc and we would walk home. Happy days.

Anyway, one day my dad shouted "run lad!" and I duly ran!! He came to me and said he had found a grenade. I was very puzzled but he explained how it got there. After much nagging he gave in and took me to it (foolish I know but so what!). All I could make out was what looked like a rusty potato! He had nearly bagged it but then realised the weight of it. The grenade was marked off with sticks and the farmer called in the army who took it away.
l

might sound daft, but that's not possibly a traditional Northumberland sheep pen is it? See loads of round pens in the Keilder area and the wilds of Northumberland....

Ask Sausage anything about Delaval/Hartley, his knowledge of that area is astounding. I live there and he's told me so much about the place.

And its Delaval by the way not deleval. Sorry I get very fussy about that spelling