Monument record MDO42687 - Second World War road block on the old quay, Brownsea Island, Studland

The Pillbox Study Group infer a possible former Second World War roadblock at about this location, stating that it lay at the end of a line of blocks visible on RAF aerial photographs dated November 1946. These may be a mis-interpretation of the Grade II listed south east (foreshore) wall of The Villano (and National Trust Restaurant), which is of mid-19th century brick with crenelated gun-ports. Although some form of wartime checkpoint might be expected on the quay, which represents the main transit route to-and from the island, there need have been no permanent infrastructure, and any temporary installation is likely to have been removed shortly after the end of the war. The attribution remans unproven.

The putative roadblock has been removed, and the quay has since been rebuilt to a different configuration.

Thompson, S, 2020, Pillbox Study Group: Defence of Britain Project sites not in the Dorset Historic Environment Record, e32031 (Unpublished document). SDO16685.

Record last edited

Jan 13 2025 4:34PM