Monument record IXW 074 - World War II spigot mortar , spyhole and wall, Dover House, Ixworth

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Summary

Spigot mortar pit; has been filled in and bushes and shrubs planted - only the spigot is still visible.

Location

Grid reference Centred TL 931 702 (4m by 4m)
Map sheet TL97SW
Civil Parish IXWORTH, ST EDMUNDSBURY, SUFFOLK

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

In private garden of property at bottom of high street. Spigot mortar pit; has been filled in and bushes and shrubs planted - only the spigot is still visible (S1).
Dover House spigot mortar emplacement is very close indeed to a flint wall which borders the High Street/Stow Road junction. Beside it is what appears to be a blocked-up doorway in the wall, however, this ‘doorway’ is rather low, it is filled with only a single skin of flints and it has a wooden lintel. (This area of wall is immediately to the left of the pillbox IXW 093.) Close to ground level there is a section of drainage pipe running through the wall. When viewed from the Dover House side it makes more sense. When standing in the trench around the thimble, crew members would have been able to use the pipe as a spyhole and see the enemy approaching down the High Street. The ‘doorway’ could then be smashed out with a sledgehammer and the mortar fired through the resulting gap (S2).

Sources/Archives (2)

  • <S1> Digital archive: Defence of Britain Project archive. UORN: S0006451.
  • <S2> Unpublished document: Steve Wilson. 2013. Ixworth's World War Two Defences.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (0)

Record last edited

Aug 22 2013 12:10PM

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