The Taunton Stop Line

The Taunton Stop Line was built in 1940, when the UK government believed an invasion of Britain by Nazi Germany was imminent. The evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk at the end of June 1940, increased the sense of urgency. The Taunton Stop Line was part of a network of defensive lines built across various parts of Britain.  The purpose of a stop line was to slow down, a German advance, if they had invaded Britain.

General Edmund Ironside was appointed as Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces at the end of May 1940.  On 25th June he announced plans for Home Defence to the War Cabinet.  He proposed:

1. The construction of coastal defences to fight off small raids and delay any landings.
2. Road blocks at strategic locations to be manned by the Home Guard
3. The construction of static fortified stop lines, which divided coastal areas into sectors and sealed off London and the Midlands from the coast
4. A central reserve of troops, who would be ready to deal with any major breakthroughs
5. Local mobile groups, which could deal with parachute landings and local attacks.

The Taunton Stop Line ran for approximately 50 miles from the Bristol Channel/mouth of the River Brue at Highbridge to the English Channel at Axmouth Harbour in Devon.  Its route was via Pawlett Hams, Dunball, Bridgwater, North Newton, Creech St Michael, Wrantage, Ilton, Ilminster, Donyatt, Knowle St Giles, Chard, Forton, Perry Street, Chard Junction and Axminster.  

Where possible the Taunton Stop Line utilised natural barriers.  It followed the River Parrett to Bridgwater, then the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal to Creech St Michael and then the line of the disused Chard Canal to Ilton.  It then followed the Great Western Railway to Chard Junction and then the River Axe and/or the Southern Railway to Axmouth Harbour.

Highbridge was also the start of the General Headquarters (GHQ) Green line, which ran east to Bradford-on-Avon and then north to Framilode on the River Severn south of Gloucester.

The construction of the Taunton Stop Line began in July 1940 and was largely completed by September of the same year.   About 400 defensive structures, including pillboxes, road and rail blocks, anti-tank gun emplacements and anti-tank obstacles were constructed at strategic points along the stop line to strengthen it.  The anti-tank obstacles were usually made of concrete and came in various shapes and sizes, including dragons' teeth (flat-topped pyramids), posts, cubes and coffins. 

Gun emplacements were built at strategic locations, landmines were laid, trenches were dug and barbed wire entanglements were put in place.  Many of the bridges along the route had charge chambers cut into their walls, so that they could be blown up in the event of an invasion.  The pillboxes were disguised and/or camouflaged using paint and netting or locally available materials such as soil, beach pebbles and hedgerows.

In 1941 twelve defensive "islands" were created to strengthen the stop line at Bridgwater, Durston (to cover the railway junction at Cogload), Creech St Michael, Wrantage/Crimson Hill, Ilton (RAF Isle Abbotts/Merryfield). Ilminster, Chard, Forton, Perry Street, Whitford, Axminster and Colyford.  These anti-tank islands were intended to be used as bases from which to launch counter attacks, if the stop line was breached.

The Taunton Stop Line was initially manned by the army, assisted by the Home Guard, but as the threat of an invasion receded, the Home Guard took over responsibility for it.

The majority of the structures built for the Taunton Stop Line are still intact and in situ today.

Pillbox close to the River Brue at Highbridge

Pillbox on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal near Outwood House

Pillbox on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal

Pillbox on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal near Outwood House

This pillbox has had its front wall removed.

 

Pillbox on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal at Charlton

Pillbox and dragons' teeth on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal

Pillbox at the junction of the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal and the Chard Canal in Creech St Michael 

It was probably originally disguised as a farm building or canal-side cottage.  In 2015 it was repurposed as a bat roost. This is a Type 26 pillbox.

Pillbox on Park Drive, Ilminster

Pillbox near Dillington, Ilminster

Donyatt Halt

One of a pair of concrete blocks, into which sections of railway track would have been slotted to form a vehicle barrier.  There are some anti-tank blocks in the background. 

6-pounder anti-tank gun emplacement on the now disused railway line near Knowle St Giles

6-pounder anti-tank gun emplacement near Knowle St Giles

Anti-tank wall, Victoria Avenue, Chard

Artillery Battery on Axmouth Beach

This would probably have been equipped with a 6-pounder Hotchkiss gun

Further Reading: The West Country's Last Line of Defence: Taunton Stop Line by Andrew Powell-Thomas, Amberley Publishing, 2017

HMS Dulverton

There have been two Royal Navy vessels named HMS Dulverton:

L3 was a Hunt-class destroyer launched in 1941.  She took part in many World War II operations in the Mediterranean Sea including:

• Escorting troop convoys on their way to the Suez Canal and Malta
• Supporting the British Eighth Army in North Africa
• The raid on Tobruk in Libya
• Working with the RAF and other destroyers to blow up the German U-boat U559 
• The Dodecanese Campaign in October 1943 to try to recapture the Greek islands of Kos and Leros. 

On 12th November HMS Dulverton returned to Leros, along with HMS Echo and HMS Belvoir, to support the garrison there, as the island had been invaded by the Germans.  On 13th November, she was hit by a German glider bomb six miles off the coast of Kos.  Her bows were blown off and she caught fire.  6 officers and 114 ratings were rescued but 3 officers (including the commanding officer Stuart Austen Buss) and 75 ratings were killed. After the rescue of the survivors was completed, HMS Dulverton was sunk by a torpedo fired from HMS Belvoir.

M35 was a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel launched in 1982.  In 1997 she was converted into a patrol vessel.  She was decommissioned in 2004. In 2008 she was sold to Lithuania and entered into service there in 2011 as the Kuršis.

Both vessels are commemorated in All Saints' Church in Dulverton.  There is a model of HMS Dulverton (L3) in a glass case on display.  This was made by Maurice Burgess and donated to the church by Lily and Maurice Burgess on 11th April 2010.  The ship's bell and a carved wooden service board are located next to the model.  M35's battle ensign, which she flew during the Gulf War January-March 1991 is folded up and displayed in a wall mounted case, next to an illustration of the ship's crest.

Those who lost their lives on HMS Dulverton in 1943 are commemorated on the town's war memorial in Kemps Way.

Model of HMS Dulverton

Board recording the service of HMS Dulverton

Bell and service board

Crest of HMS Dulverton

Battle Ensign flown by HMS Dulverton during the Gulf War, January-March 1991

Dulverton War Memorial, Kemps Way

HMS Dulverton commemoration on the Dulverton War Memorial

Maclaren Memorial Stone, Brendon Common

There is a tall grey granite memorial stone located on Brendon Common 500 metres to the east of the B3223 and 500 metres from the Somerset/Devon border on the Devon side (grid reference SS 767 438).  The inscription on the stone reads as follows:

In memory of Colonel R.H. Maclaren OBE

MC Commander CW Troops

Royal Engineer who was

killed on duty on this spot

May 20th 1941

This stone was erected

by his brother officers

Robert (Bobby) Hillhouse Maclaren was born in 1902.  In May 1941 he was in charge of a team of Royal Engineers who were testing a new rocket delivery system for gas warheads on Exmoor.  On 20th May he was observing a demonstration firing of five inch rockets on Brendon Common.  According to Brigadier Lloyd, who was also present at the demonstration, there was a fault with the launching equipment, which caused some of the rockets to be fired in the wrong direction. One of the rockets landed behind the onlookers and exploded. A sliver from the rocket's metal casing hit Colonel Maclaren and penetrated his chest.  He died shortly afterwards.  He is buried at Tidworth Military Cemetery in Wiltshire.

There is a path of sorts that starts to the south west of the memorial and heads towards it in a north easterly direction.  There are adders on Brendon Common and so stick to the path, unless you want to have my experience of only just avoiding stepping on a black adder on a pathless section just to the north of the memorial stone!

Colonel Maclaren's memorial stone, Brendon Common

Colonel Maclaren's Memorial Stone

Inscription on the memorial stone

John Rouse Merriott Chard VC - Rorke's Drift

John Rouse Merriott Chard was born in Boxhill near Plymouth on 21st December 1847.  He was educated at grammar schools in Cheltenham and Plymouth. He then went to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich and he was commissioned lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 15th July 1868.

From 1870-75 John Chard served with the Royal Engineers in Bermuda and Malta.  He returned to England in April 1875.  In December 1878 he left England with the 5th Company, Royal Engineers to fight in the Anglo-Zulu War in South Africa.  They arrived in Durban in January 1879 and marched to Helpmekaar (in what is now KwaZulu-Natal province).  John Chard was sent ahead to Rorke's Drift on the Buffalo River with a few men.  Rorke's Drift at this time consisted of a kraal (traditional village of huts), hospital and store.  

On 22nd January John Chard was left in charge at Rorke's Drift with orders to protect the river crossing. Later the same day news reached them of the massacre of 1,300 British soldiers at Isandlwana, about 10 miles to the east.  John Chard made the decision to defend his position, rather than retreat.  There were 8 officers and 131 non-commissioned officers at Rorke's Drift but 35 of the men were ill in the hospital.  John Chard hastily made an entrenchment out of biscuit tins from the stores.  Soon after they were attacked repeatedly by about 3,000 Zulus for the rest of the day and on through the night.  The Zulus set light to the thatched roof of the hospital but the British soldiers under John Chard held their position. During the night they made a redoubt out of old mealie-bags.  The Zulus retreated at daybreak and John Chard went round and collected up the arms of the dead Zulus and strengthened the position as much as possible.  370 Zulus had been killed but only 15 British soldiers had died (+12 wounded).  The Zulus approached again later that day but retreated when British reinforcements arrived.

John Chard remained at Rorke's Drift for a few weeks but then became ill and was taken to Ladysmith to recover.  When reinforcements arrived in Natal in April, John Chard's company was placed in the flying column under Brigadier-General Evelyn Wood and took part in all its operations, including the Battle of Ulundi on 4th July 1879. John Chard was decorated with the Victoria Cross on 6th July 1879 by the commander of the forces, Sir Garnet Wolseley. Victoria Crosses were also awarded to 10 other British soldiers who had fought with John Chard at Rorke's Drift.   

On his return to England in October 1879, John Chard visited Queen Victoria at Balmoral and she gave him a gold signet ring. He was promoted to major in July 1886.  He then served for 2 years at Devonport, 6 years in Cyprus and 5 years in the north-western military district.  In December 1892 he sailed to Singapore, where he was commanding royal engineer for 3 years. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in January 1893.  After returning to Britain, he was appointed commanding royal engineer of the Perth sub-district in January 1896. He was promoted to colonel in January 1897.

John Chard died of cancer of the tongue on 1st November 1897 at his brother's rectory in Hatch Beauchamp.  He was buried in the churchyard at Hatch Beauchamp on 5th November.  There is a stained glass window in the chancel of the church, which is dedicated to him.

Grave of John Chard in the churchyard of St John the Baptist Church in Hatch Beauchamp

John Chard's memorial window in the church of St John the Baptist, Hatch Beauchamp

John Chard's medals, including the Victoria Cross, in the top left corner of his memorial window

Church of St John the Baptist, Hatch Beauchamp

Burrow Mump

Burrow Mump is a natural hill of Mercia Mudstone, which rises dramatically from the flat landscape of the Somerset Moors at Burrowbridge, although it is only 24 metres higher than the surrounding land.  It has a flat top, below which the sides have been steeply scarped for about 7 metres. The lower slopes of the hill are natural.   

Burrow Mump is located at a strategic point where the River Tone and the old course of the River Cary join the River Parrett. According to local legend, King Alfred used the hill as a defensive position against the Danes, but there is no evidence that this was true.  It may also have been the site of a Norman motte and bailey castle.  It was owned by Athelney Abbey from around 937 AD.

In medieval times a chapel dedicated to St Michael was built on top of Burrow Mump.  It was rebuilt several times and was still standing in the mid-17th century.  During the English Civil War, Royalist troops occupied Burrow Mump in 1642 and for three days in 1645, after losing the Battle of Langport.  By the mid-18th century the chapel was in ruins and in 1793 rebuilding commenced, but the church was never completed.  The church is built of lias with Ham stone and red brick dressings.  In 1836-8 a church (also dedicated to St Michael) was built at the foot of the hill in the village of Burrowbridge instead.

Burrow Mump and the unfinished church were given to the National Trust by Major Alexander Gould Barrett in 1946, as a memorial to the Somerset men and women who lost their lives during the Second World War.  There is a small car park located just off the A361 to the east of Burrow Mump.

St Michael's Church

St Michael's Church

Inside St Michael's Church

St Michael's Church

View across the Levels from St Michael's Church

War memorial plaque

Burrow Mump at sunset

Burrow Mump just after sunset

Burrow Mump in the twilight

Brean Down Fort

Brean Down is a headland, which juts out into the Bristol Channel at the eastern end of Bridgwater Bay.  It is composed of carboniferous limestone and is a continuation of the Mendip Hills (as are the islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm).  The highest point on Brean Down is 97 metres above sea level and this is marked by a trig point. The name Brean probably comes from the Ancient British word briga, meaning hill.

Brean Down has been occupied for different purposes for thousands of years:

•  Neolithic people lived and farmed there.
•  Bronze Age people lived, farmed and buried their dead on it.
•  A hillfort was built on it by Iron Age people.
•  A temple and a settlement were built on it in Roman times.
•  In the post Roman period people buried their dead in a cemetery on it.
•  From the 14th to the 18th centuries it was managed as a rabbit warren.
•  In Victorian times a fort was built at the western end and work on a harbour was started in 1864 but never completed.
•  It was fortified during the Second World War.

In the 1850s concern grew in Britain about the strength of the French Navy and it was believed that war between France and Britain might be imminent.  Henry John Temple, 3^rd Viscount Palmerston, became Prime Minister for the 2^nd time in 1859. Palmerston and his Secretary of State for War (Sidney Herbert) established a Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom in 1859 to examine the ability of Britain to defend itself against an attempted invasion by a foreign power and to advise the British Government on the remedial action required. 

The Commission reported back in 1860 and recommended the building of forts to protect naval bases and other strategic locations around the coasts of Britain and Ireland.  In the Bristol Channel Brean Down, Steep Holm, Flat Holm and Lavernock Point were to be fortified in order to protect the ports of Bristol, Avonmouth, Cardiff and Newport.

In 1862 four acres of land at the western end of Brean Down were requisitioned from the Wyndham family, who had owned it since the 17th century when they bought it from Glastonbury Abbey.  In 1864 Lieutenant Robert Vetch was given the task of constructing the Bristol Channel forts.  Brean Down Fort was completed by 1870 but was not equipped with artillery straightaway.  It was partially concealed on the seaward side and the landward side was protected by a dry moat.  By 1872 a garrison of 51 soldiers were living there.  Seven 7" cannons were installed by the late 1870s.  These were located in three batteries:

•  West Battery - this had 3 cannons and 2 underground magazines
•  North West Battery - this had 3 cannons and 2 underground magazines
•  North East Battery - this had 1 cannon and a magazine

There were also barracks, a guard house, a master-gunner's quarters and an officers' mess.  

Both Viscount Palmerston and Sidney Herbert died before work began on Brean Down Fort. By the time the fortifications were completed, the threat from the French had diminished. The island’s heavy guns were never fired in anger.  

In July 1900 a soldier called William Haines fired his rifle into one of the West Battery's magazines, in an apparent attempt to kill himself, and it exploded and destroyed the battery.  After the explosion the fort was decommissioned and the guns were sold for scrap in 1901. In 1909 Brean Down Fort was handed back to the Wyndham family.   

In 1910 part of the fort was converted into a café , which was run by Mr R. Waterman.  The fort was not used during the First World War.  In the early 1920s the Wyndham's leased the fort to Joseph Chamberlain, who opened it as a café, which was run by Alfred Meredith and his wife. Many visitors arrived via the Uphill Ferry or on boats from Anchor Head or Knightstone Harbour in Weston-super-Mare.  The Merediths closed the café in 1936.

Brean Down Fort was refortified in 1941-42.  Two gun positions were built: one on the site of the ruined West Battery and the other over part of the North West Battery.  They were armed with 6" ex-naval guns.  

Two Coastal Artillery Searchlight posts were built - one on the western tip of Brean Down and the other on the cliff top to the south of the fort.  These were made of reinforced concrete and were covered with camouflage paint. The searchlights were protected by armoured steel shutters.  They could scan the sea for enemy ships at radius of two miles.

The Victorian barracks were reused as a canteen and leisure room, but the windows were partly blocked to give protection from blasts.  The officers were accommodated in the former Master-Gunner's quarters.  12 Nissen huts were built in the old quarry on the east side of the Victorian fort and used as barracks.  

A battery of 6 Lewis guns was built on the north side of Brean Down, close to the Iron Age hillfort.

During the Second World War experimental weapons were tested at the fort by scientists from the Admiralty Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development, who were based at HMS Birnbeck. The short length of launching rail, which can still be seen, is evidence of these trials.  This was used to launch a 'bouncing bomb'.

At the end of 1943 Brean Down Fort was downgraded to "care and maintenance" and the guns were removed in 1945 and the land was returned to the ownership of the Wyndham Trust.

Axbridge Rural District Council bought most of Brean Down (except the fort) from the Wyndham Trust in 1954 and then gave it (147.5 acres) to the National Trust. Weston-super-Mare Borough Council bought the fort from the Wyndham Trust and they considered various future uses for the fort e.g. a casino or a centre for youth activities but all were rejected. In 1958-9 parts of the fort were dismantled and the rest of it was cleared of miscellaneous debris and undergrowth by groups of volunteers. In 1973 Weston-super-Mare Borough Council offered the fort to the National Trust but they wouldn't accept it because they didn't want to pay for its repair and maintenance, so they sold it to Axbridge Rural District Council for a nominal fee.  

 In 1977 the army were brought in to blow up the roofs of the two Second World War gun emplacements, as they were in a dangerous condition.  In 1983 a Manpower Services Commission team were employed to make the fort buildings safe. 

Various councils and organisations produced reports and plans for the future conservation and development of the fort over the years.  Between 1994 and 1997, Sedgemoor District Council (the successor council to Axbridge Rural District), the National Trust and English Heritage worked together on an application for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the fort and convert the buildings into a museum, holiday accommodation a café and a shop, but the National Trust withdrew their support at the last minute and the application was rejected in March 1998.

In December 1998 the National Trust submitted their own application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of £350,000 to pay for the repair and stabilisation of the fort.  They were told in August 1999 that their application was successful.  In 2000 3.4 acres at Brean Down Cove were acquired by the National Trust from MD & M Matthews.  In 2002, following renovation work, Sedgemoor District Council gave Brean Down Fort to the National Trust.

Further reading:

Brean Down Fort: Its History and the Defence of the Bristol Channel by Nicholas van der Bijl, Hawk Editions, 2000

The south coast of Brean Down

Looking west down Brean Down

Trig point on Brean Down - looking north east across Weston Bay towards Worlebury Hill

Brean Down Fort

Victorian gun battery and entrance to one of the underground magazines

Second World War searchlight position at the west end of Brean Down

Second World War searchlight position and launching rail for experimental weapons

Searchlight position, Brean Down

Gun emplacement, Brean Down Fort

Inside the Victorian barrack room

This room was built to house 20 men, but for most of the time it was in use only 4 or 5 gunners lived there.  They had folding beds, which when folded up could be used as chairs.

Second World War Battery Command Post

World War Two Battery Command Post

Brean Down Fort

Brean Down Fort with the site of the Second World War barracks below it

Six Lewis gun emplacements on the north coast of the eastern end of Brean Down overlooking Weston Bay

These were possibly used for training purposes.

The South coast of Brean Down

Master Gunner's Quarters

This building was originally divided into 4 large rooms.  In 1881 it was occupied by Master Gunner John Bond.  His wife and children lived there with him.   During the Second World War when the building was used as an officers' mess, it was probably divided into 9 rooms.

Second World War searchlight position on the west end of Brean Down

Steep Holm can be seen in the distance.

Dry moat

Brean Down Fort is on the left hand side of the photo