History and info
Taunton Stopline
“A World War 2 anti-invasion stop line, facing west, built between July and November 1940. The stop line runs for approximately 50 miles from the mouth of River Brue to the mouth of the River Axe in Devon (with some infrastructure in Dorset). Some rear positions were prepared to the E of line. It connected to the ‘GHQ Line Green’ running East along River Brue.
The line followed the River Parrett to Bridgwater where it joined the Bridgwater to Taunton Canal. From Creech St Michael it followed the old Chard Canal until SW of Ilton where it joined the Great Western Railway. The line left the GWR to the north of Chard Junction from where it followed the Southern Railway and River Axe running south into Devon.
The planned infrastructure (most of which was built) included 233 pillboxes, 61 medium machine gun emplacements, 21 anti-tank gun emplacements, 83 road blocks, 22 railway blocks and 46 demolitions.
The anti-tank obstacle consisted of about 24 miles of waterways, 7 miles of improved water obstacles, 11 miles of anti-tank ditches and 8 miles of artificial obstacles (eg cubes).
From autumn 1940, twelve locations were prepared for all-round defence as ‘anti-tank islands’ of which 9 were in Somerset - Bridgwater, Durston, Creech St Michael, Wrantage and Crimson Hill, Ilton, Ilminster, Chard, Forton and Perry Street.”
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Chard Canal
From Wikipedia;
“The Chard Canal was a 13.5 miles (21.7 km) tub boat canal in Somerset, England, that ran from the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal at Creech St. Michael, over four aqueducts, through three tunnels and four inclined planes to Chard. It was completed in 1842, was never commercially viable, and closed in 1868. The major engineering features are still clearly visible in the landscape.” [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chard_Canal[/ame]
My thanks and acknowledgment once again to Krela for providing the photos of the original construction plans and other 1940/1941 documentation included in this report.
I went on a trip with a mate to see some sections of the route of the Chard canal. It was a compromise between his interests and mine and we both ended up getting a lot out of the day.
Usually when I visit a section of the stopline I prepare in advance and know what’s there (or meant to be) and roughly where to find it. On this occasion however my mate Dave was on point leading us to two ‘fail’ sites which to be honest we were expecting to be ‘closed’ anyway.
As a consequence we ended up at a place which Dave said had a few PB’s and canal remains which were worth a look. It was a strange but pleasant experience finding my way around in a place I hadn’t researched in advance. I was pleased with just how many interesting finds there were in this half mile stretch, with the added bonus of the unexpected.
This is an area between Ruishton and Creech St Michael, where the disused/ dismantled remains of two transport infrastructures merge briefly. How it must have bustled in its day. Both cross the River Tone south of Creech. The railway is a shallow curve in plan as it heads north to join the main line and is struck at a tangent by the canal running straight. This is quiet countryside uninhabited in the most part and a peaceful place to nose around in for a few hours.
Anyway, after some retrospective research, here are the pics.
The area as of Nov 1940
The modern day landscape
GE map shots legend
Orange – AT ditches
Yellow – Scarping
White – AT posts
Blue – Barbed wire
Black – Railway
Light blue - Canal
Canal at Ruishton
The aqueduct is brittle to say the least
The Canal bed looking towards the aqueduct
AT Walls in arches
T RL B 8 – Rail block - 51° 1'18.65"N, 3° 2'34.39"W
No remains of the block but the railway viaduct is hanging in there
T 35 - S0000404 - Type 24 - 51° 1'14.41"N, 3° 2'28.40"W
Two large embrasures with the metal hinged flap one facing each way up the track bed
N RL 29 – Rail block - 51° 1'12.88"N, 3° 2'27.73"W - no remains visible
N RD 10 - Road block - 51° 1'12.06"N, 3° 2'24.35"W
Just the solitary AT cube left here to the right of the mostly dismantled Canal bridge
N 75 - Special design - 51° 1'11.52"N, 3° 2'24.53"W
The prize of the day and tucked away beneath the bridge. Entered through a short tunnel beneath the bridge opening out into the pillbox section on the opposite bank. From the outside it’s merged with the bridge for disguise. Bit of a treat this.
T 34 - Type 24 - 51° 1'11.42"N, 3° 2'24.01"W
N 76 - Type 24 - S0000423 - 51° 1'7.76"N, 3° 2'23.58"W
N RL 30 - Rail block - 51° 1'6.76"N, 3° 2'23.52"W
Railway related building I believe, but right on the site of the block
Canal block - 51° 1'1.35"N, 3° 2'19.03"W
This looks to me like an existing passage below the canal was restricted by this block. What do you think? There was substantial masonry to either side which would have been the support for the canal overpass
Jonty’s (not his real name) home
As you can see he’s well prepared down here and quite comfortable. After he’d brewed up I spoke with him for about an hour and whilst he was quite happy for me to photograph his stopline residence, he declined to be pictured himself. The police know he’s here and visit occasionally to check that he and his two companions are okay. They aren’t noticeably impacting the site and appear very in tune with their environment.
This was the second highlight of our day. A mug of tea and a chat in the woods in the middle of nowhere before heading home. Handsome.
An almost impromptu stopline explore that turned into a really enjoyable day.
That’s all for now. Thanks for looking in.
Taunton Stopline
“A World War 2 anti-invasion stop line, facing west, built between July and November 1940. The stop line runs for approximately 50 miles from the mouth of River Brue to the mouth of the River Axe in Devon (with some infrastructure in Dorset). Some rear positions were prepared to the E of line. It connected to the ‘GHQ Line Green’ running East along River Brue.
The line followed the River Parrett to Bridgwater where it joined the Bridgwater to Taunton Canal. From Creech St Michael it followed the old Chard Canal until SW of Ilton where it joined the Great Western Railway. The line left the GWR to the north of Chard Junction from where it followed the Southern Railway and River Axe running south into Devon.
The planned infrastructure (most of which was built) included 233 pillboxes, 61 medium machine gun emplacements, 21 anti-tank gun emplacements, 83 road blocks, 22 railway blocks and 46 demolitions.
The anti-tank obstacle consisted of about 24 miles of waterways, 7 miles of improved water obstacles, 11 miles of anti-tank ditches and 8 miles of artificial obstacles (eg cubes).
From autumn 1940, twelve locations were prepared for all-round defence as ‘anti-tank islands’ of which 9 were in Somerset - Bridgwater, Durston, Creech St Michael, Wrantage and Crimson Hill, Ilton, Ilminster, Chard, Forton and Perry Street.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Chard Canal
From Wikipedia;
“The Chard Canal was a 13.5 miles (21.7 km) tub boat canal in Somerset, England, that ran from the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal at Creech St. Michael, over four aqueducts, through three tunnels and four inclined planes to Chard. It was completed in 1842, was never commercially viable, and closed in 1868. The major engineering features are still clearly visible in the landscape.” [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chard_Canal[/ame]
My thanks and acknowledgment once again to Krela for providing the photos of the original construction plans and other 1940/1941 documentation included in this report.
I went on a trip with a mate to see some sections of the route of the Chard canal. It was a compromise between his interests and mine and we both ended up getting a lot out of the day.
Usually when I visit a section of the stopline I prepare in advance and know what’s there (or meant to be) and roughly where to find it. On this occasion however my mate Dave was on point leading us to two ‘fail’ sites which to be honest we were expecting to be ‘closed’ anyway.
As a consequence we ended up at a place which Dave said had a few PB’s and canal remains which were worth a look. It was a strange but pleasant experience finding my way around in a place I hadn’t researched in advance. I was pleased with just how many interesting finds there were in this half mile stretch, with the added bonus of the unexpected.
This is an area between Ruishton and Creech St Michael, where the disused/ dismantled remains of two transport infrastructures merge briefly. How it must have bustled in its day. Both cross the River Tone south of Creech. The railway is a shallow curve in plan as it heads north to join the main line and is struck at a tangent by the canal running straight. This is quiet countryside uninhabited in the most part and a peaceful place to nose around in for a few hours.
Anyway, after some retrospective research, here are the pics.
The area as of Nov 1940
The modern day landscape
GE map shots legend
Orange – AT ditches
Yellow – Scarping
White – AT posts
Blue – Barbed wire
Black – Railway
Light blue - Canal
Canal at Ruishton
The aqueduct is brittle to say the least
The Canal bed looking towards the aqueduct
AT Walls in arches
T RL B 8 – Rail block - 51° 1'18.65"N, 3° 2'34.39"W
No remains of the block but the railway viaduct is hanging in there
T 35 - S0000404 - Type 24 - 51° 1'14.41"N, 3° 2'28.40"W
Two large embrasures with the metal hinged flap one facing each way up the track bed
N RL 29 – Rail block - 51° 1'12.88"N, 3° 2'27.73"W - no remains visible
N RD 10 - Road block - 51° 1'12.06"N, 3° 2'24.35"W
Just the solitary AT cube left here to the right of the mostly dismantled Canal bridge
N 75 - Special design - 51° 1'11.52"N, 3° 2'24.53"W
The prize of the day and tucked away beneath the bridge. Entered through a short tunnel beneath the bridge opening out into the pillbox section on the opposite bank. From the outside it’s merged with the bridge for disguise. Bit of a treat this.
T 34 - Type 24 - 51° 1'11.42"N, 3° 2'24.01"W
N 76 - Type 24 - S0000423 - 51° 1'7.76"N, 3° 2'23.58"W
N RL 30 - Rail block - 51° 1'6.76"N, 3° 2'23.52"W
Railway related building I believe, but right on the site of the block
Canal block - 51° 1'1.35"N, 3° 2'19.03"W
This looks to me like an existing passage below the canal was restricted by this block. What do you think? There was substantial masonry to either side which would have been the support for the canal overpass
Jonty’s (not his real name) home
As you can see he’s well prepared down here and quite comfortable. After he’d brewed up I spoke with him for about an hour and whilst he was quite happy for me to photograph his stopline residence, he declined to be pictured himself. The police know he’s here and visit occasionally to check that he and his two companions are okay. They aren’t noticeably impacting the site and appear very in tune with their environment.
This was the second highlight of our day. A mug of tea and a chat in the woods in the middle of nowhere before heading home. Handsome.
An almost impromptu stopline explore that turned into a really enjoyable day.
That’s all for now. Thanks for looking in.
Last edited:
He was after the canal tunnels and originally described N 75 to me as "We'll go to Creech, there's a sort of dungeon type place in the bridge" bless him.
