Skip to main content

Benacre / Kessingland Part 1: Sanitary Pipe Works

A strange title for this blog, about a walk in the Benacre / Kessingland area I  admit! So I better explain it! Today (Mon 10th May) decided to check this area to see if coastal erosion that I have already bloged on re Thorpeness had revealed any fresh 'finds' in this area, one of the quickest eroding sections of the Suffolk Coast. In particular I was interested in any visible evidence of Covehithe Emergency Coastal Battery. Also on my recent visit to the NMR Centre in Swindon I had recorded some aerial photos showing buildings in this area in 1940/41 (no idea at the moment if they are military or not). Covehithe Cliffs have eroded markedly since the war so any evidence was going to be along the tide line. All I could find weres many remains of sewage systems! These did resemble some of the remains I have found in camps (eg HAA Battery camps) still surviving. One pipe was manufactured by H R Mansfield, Church Gresley. Church Gresley is in Darbyshire, 15 miles from Darby and 6 miles from Ashby-de-la Zouch. From a Google search I was able to trace H R Mansfield Sanitary Pipe Works from 1895 to 1945! Of course I have no idea if the sewer system remains on the beach are from military buildings or not, but the complete lack of other building remains would suggest the buildings themselves were dismantled, just leaving the underground sewer in place. Subsequently, cliff erosion has resulted in depositing the sewer system on the beach. This would make sense, for example, with emergency coastal batteries, many of which were scheduled for removal at the end of the war.

Not really a website update, but have added a couple of interesting snippets to Defence Works - Minefields-Buildings in Defence on the site.

Hopefully, a less off-beat post tomorrow!
Image 1: A complete manhole from a sewer, Benacre/Covehithe Beach
Image 2: Sewer Pipe, manufactured by H R Mansfield, Church Gresley













Comments

  1. Colin James Watling14 May 2010 at 19:33

    I'm pretty sure there was a lot of military buildings in this area during the war as well as a little further North at Benacre where there was a gun emplacement-these pipes in the picture have been falling from the cliffs for years now and several pill boxes have gone into the sea due to coastal erosion over the years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dave24 May 2010 at 23:00

    Hello Colin
    Thanks for the comment, my feeling is also that they are military - the manhole construction matches those I have found still intact on various heaths. I am still in the process of trying to piece together the defences in the area, still have various war diaries to wade through. I have a RAF 1942 aerial which already shows a pillbox fallen into the sea and one well on the way!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eastern Command Line - a lazy post

As the title suggests, just a lazy post today, a few pics of CRE Colchester design pillboxes in the Sudbury area to round of the thread on this May visit. Also one pic of concrete road block cylinders now being used as part of river bank defences. This is the first time I have come across this type of road block in Suffolk although I suspect it was probably used quite widely on this Stop Line, perhaps I will come across more examples / references in time. These pictures do show a timeless landscape - traditional floodplain meadows still used for grazing, with the Second World War clearly marking its presence. Lets just hope both the pillboxes and  grazing meadows will be preserved.
Post a Comment
Read more

RAF Hethel Defence Post

At RAF Station Hethel, a remarkable defence post still exists.  Admittedly, RAF Hethel is in Norfolk and not Suffolk, but the records for this site do provide some interest in relation to the defence of airfields in Eastern Command. Work on Hethel began in 1941 and the station was opened late 1942 and was actually one of the RAF Stations handed over to the USAAF for the use of its bomber units. The defence post was constructed in accordance with a new policy adopted by Eastern Command. Previously, airfield defences had been built as a result of the Taylor Report and largely consisted of pillboxes and breastworks which were large and conspicuous and vulnerable to air attack. Experience at Crete had shown the need for small inconspicuous field works. The new defences were to now consist of small two man weapon-slits and small machine gun pits constructed in accordance with “Infantry Training, 1937” Supplement No.3 – “The design and lay-out of Field Defences, 1942”. Above...
Post a Comment
Read more

Anti-tank ditch

December 31st Decided to visit the anti-tank ditch at Aldringham Walks this afternoon. It was constructed between late 1940 and early 1941 and ran from (north to south) Sizewell to the north of Thorpeness Mere. Some of its length is still visible today (see map and bottom photo)). The war diary of 9th Cameronians (15th Div) mentions the construction of the ditch in Margaret Wood (vicinity of No 12 Platoon, B Coy).  The diary also mentions a pillbox being destroyed by the RE in No 12 platoons area, but no luck in finding any remains this time. The diary would also indicate the ditch was a combined obstacle with Z1 scaffolding. The top left photo shows the remains of a weapons pit/shell slit; six pieces of angle iron revetment still exist - one of the pieces is clearly visible in the photo. Perhaps this is part of No 12 platoons position. Many years ago when beating up the young woodland I found a Yorkshire billhook with the WO arrow dated 1946, so this area would appear to have ...
Post a Comment
Read more