Monument record MDO25904 - World War Two anti-tank ditch, Chesil Beach, Abbotsbury

A World War II anti-tank bank located behind Chesil Beach at Castle Hill Cottages and visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken in 1946.

An anti-tank ditch situated behind Chesil Beach extending from Castle Hill Cottages in the west to the anti-tank trap at Reeds End in the east. This was situated within the Abbotsbury Defence area and had been constructed by July 1940. This area was defended by the 6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry. <1-3>

A World War II anti-tank obstacle located behind Chesil Beach at Castle Hill Cottages. It comprises a linear bank running along the landward side of Burton Road and forms part of a longer interrupted feature which runs to the antitank trap at Reeds End in the east (MWX1315). The site was digitally plotted from aerial photographs <4> during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

<1> Council for British Archaeology, 1995, Defence of Britain Project, S0016416 (Digital archive). SWX5.

<2> Council for British Archaeology, 2003, Defence of Britain Project Database, S0016416 (Machine readable data file). SDO128.

<3> Council for British Archaeology, 2006, Defence of Britain Project Archive DEB01, S0016416 (Excavation archive). SDO17227.

<4> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 4285-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11645.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1442209 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 6 2024 4:33PM