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World War Two Defences in Rochford
Location: Essex
In the summer of 2001 a member of our group, Rochford Hundred Field Archaeology Group, happened to be talking to some people at a meeting. One of these people made it known that he wanted to do some work in our area and would we be interested in helping. From this initial contact grew what was to become a major project for our group, taking almost two years to complete.
The World War Two Defences of Rochford Project began in earnest in October 2002, but the previous year had seen a lot of preliminary work carried out by members of the group. First of all the details of the project had to be worked out and then a proposal put to the LHI to obtain funding. Eventually this was successful and training for the project began.
This training involved the use of aerial photographs, 1940s military and modern maps and the use of a resource which was once in existence in every county in England, but of which Essex now has the most complete. These are wartime’ contraventions’, which are a record of where any defence structure, from anti glider wires and poles to major sites such as pill-boxes and anti-tank ditches.
The group was split into five teams, each of which was given a small area to work in. The first task was to use the contraventions to identify where sites were built, first on the military maps, which used a different grid system, and then on to modern Ordnance Survey maps. A range of aerial photographs, mainly from the extensive 1946 RAF survey, were also used to identify where the sites were.
From these sources the next step was to actually find the sites on the ground, or at least identify where they had been and that they were no longer in existence. For most of the group involved in the project this was the fun bit as it involved walking around the countryside or through towns trying to make sense of what had been there 60 years ago and what was there now. In many cases the search was fruitless as we found nothing surviving.
The survival rates varied amazingly from one area to another. In some areas, particularly built up areas nothing survived at all whereas in certain more rural areas much more was still there. One of the aims of the survey was not just to record what was there, but what has already been lost. Once identified the condition of the site was then recorded. If something survived it was measured and photographed. From this a preliminary site report was written for each of the sites identified.
One of the most satisfying parts of the survey was talking to local people. Some of these had little knowledge of the sites in their area, or had never noticed something that they actually saw every day. Then there were the people who not only knew about them but could give a fascinating insight into the time when they were built and their history. In fact it was from chance conversations with two of the older locals that the most unusual of the sites found was identified. This was a pillbox with a peculiar metal mount and concrete emplacement built onto the top. It was initially thought that this carried a 2 pounder anti-tank gun, but two locals independently spoke of it as an anti-aircraft site, one stating there was a four-barrelled gun on the top. This is the only known example of this type of enhancement to a Type 22 pillbox in Essex.
After this each group then took our consultant, a military archaeologist, to the site where the preliminary site report was verified. He would then confirm our observations and conclusions and write up the final site report. As one area of the 13 parishes of Rochford Hundred was surveyed the group doing it worked on another one.
Eventually all the areas were complete and the military archaeologist then wrote up the report. This was published in May 2004, with a limited number being produced. It ran to 2 volumes. Copies of the report were sent to the LHI and County records Office and museum. The group also had 20 copies which we distributed to local libraries and museums. We also presented one to the Imperial War Museum.
Since the end of the project Rochford Hundred Field Archaeology Group have moved onto other local projects, but the links forged with one parish during the World War Two Project have remained strong and we are now doing extensive work in that area to chart the development of the settlement from Neolithic times.
There have also been guided walks undertaken by members of the Group to show some of the sites we identified and the project has also been incorporated into the RHFAG website. Another local archaeology group has also been engaged in a similar project to record the defences of a neighbouring area, which has been aided by the skills learnt during the RHFAG project.
| Local Community Involvement / Partnerships: |
| Rochford Hundred Historical Society, Essex County Council |
| Grants: |
Heritage Lottery Fund: £25,000
Nationwide Building Society: £5,000
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