Monument record MDO39545 - Modern heavy anti-aircraft battery, Bostwick Farm, Hurn, Christchurch and St Leonards and St Ives

A World War II heavy anti-aircraft battery to the northeast of what is now Bostwick Farm is visible on 1940s aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery. The site was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

A World War II heavy anti-aircraft battery to the northeast of what is now Bostwick Farm is visible on 1940s aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery (1 and 2).

The battery comprises five rectangular built structures, four of which are situated closer together, one to the west is set slightly apart. The structures broadly measure around 12m by 15m. One of the structures is built into the west side of a Bronze Age barrow mound (MDO5986). A trackway leads to the battery from Bostwick Road to the west. A second trackway curves south from the battery to a set of long rectangular buildings, with which it may be associated.

The buildings are in disuse by 1946 and an aerial photograph of 1956 shows their deterioration and the growth of scrub (3). The buildings to the south appear to be disused and in disrepair by this time.

The features are under scrub on current Google Earth imagery and not clearly visible. By 1988 the battery is virtually undetectable under scrub whilst the buildings to the south appear to have been incorporated into the present Bostwick Farm complex (4).

Current lidar imagery shows the battery structures to survive as relatively well-preserved and still distinct structures below the scrub (2).

The site was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

<1> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3171 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15486.

<2> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<3> Royal Air Force, 25-JAN-56, RAF/540/1789 V 28 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15487.

<4> Royal Air Force, 03-AUG-88, OS/88209 V 286 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15489.

Record last edited

Sep 29 2017 3:22PM