Monument record COV 118 - A World War II strongpoint, visible east of Covehithe from 1940 until 1945.

A World War II strongpoint is visible straddling the east road out of Covehithe where it meets the coast (at TM 529819). The strongpoint is visible in 1940 as a large possible pillbox (which might be of World War I date) blocking the road, with associated trenches to either side. The road appears to slope down, giving access to the beach and the strongpoint was presumably designed to control movement to and from the beach as it incorporates a chicane in the road down (made by two 'walls' in the road, whilst a slit trench is located at the side of the road , covering the road as it meets the beach, where a line of anti tank cubes blocks actual access from the beach itself. Apart fro these anti tank cubes, the whole strongpoint is within a barbed wire circuit (S1). By 1941, the 'pillbox' in the road has been demolished and a new (smaller) one built on the north side of the road, with a more extensive trench system connecting to a second possible pillbox to the north. A possible third pillbox is now attached to the trench to the south of the road. A large slit trench has been built to the west of this. A probable weapons pit has been built to the east of the line of defences and a further slit trench has been dug by the 'chicane'. Also the southeast corner of the barbed wire circuit has been moved inwards to accommodate the northern searchlight of the Coastal Artillery Battery (S2-3). By the end of the war, the strongpoint seems to have changed function as the defences seem to have been largely levelled (S4). The site has since been eroded away.
Initially numbered as COV 058 during pilot survey of intertial area. Re-numbered Nov 2004