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Cuckmere Haven Defences
What: Pillboxes, tank traps, ditches, trenches and hut foundations
Where: Cuckmere Haven Country Park, East Sussex
Built: c. 1940-2
Architect: Directorate of Fortifications and Works
Abandoned: c. 1943-5
Listed: No
Visited: 2006-9
Last Known Condition: Fair, one pillbox has become a bat hibernaculum
Page Updated: February 2011
By the Spring of 1940, a German invasion of Britain (or 'Unternehmen Seelöwe' as it was to be known)
must have seemed inevitable. There was a rush to defend Britain against the Nazi menace that was advancing towards her. Thousands
of anti-invasion defences were hastily built across England, Scotland,
Wales and Ireland, the most extensive network of national defence in British history. Nowhere was considered
more at risk from enemy landing forces than South East England, where any beach or harbour which might offer a safe
landing place for a hostile force was
heavily defended. One such place was Cuckmere Haven, which with its large, sheltered
gravelly beach in front of a broad sparsely-populated valley, would have been a very convenient place to land an
invading army. Because of this obvious threat, the Cuckmere Valley
was quickly fortified with anti-tank ditches, barbed wire, landmines, dragon's teeth, and dozens of pillboxes and gun
emplacements.
But that was not all: As wave after wave of German Bombers swept over England devastating airfields, harbours and civilian buildings, many ways were devised to limit damage to strategic locations. The port of Newhaven, a few miles west of the Cuckmere Gap, was particularly at risk, and protection was badly needed. The solution was ingeneous but simple. Decoy lights were set up at Cuckmere, and could be turned on at night to resemble the Port of Newhaven, which would itself hide under the cover of night. The theory was that Luftwaffe pilots would drop their bombs harmlessly in Cuckmere Haven instead of on the town. Whether this worked or not is not recorded and
fortunately for the British, not only was Germany stretched by fighting a war on two fronts,
but field tests revealed that the German invasion plan was fundamamentally unfeasible. As a result, Unternehmen Seelöwe was
finally abandoned on 13th February 1943, thus rendering these defences effectively obselete.
Type 25 Armco Anti-Infantry Pillbox [TV 5212 9924]
This cicular Type 25 'Armco' Pillbox is built of corrugated iron and concrete and has three embrasures. It was positioned on the valley side to give cover over the River Valley. Unfortunatly this gave rise to serious problems of stability as the box was undermined by rabbit burrows and the surrounding ground eroded by human and animal traffic. This became so much of a problem that in the 1990s, removal was scheduled. Fortunately, it was decided to reinforce it instead, (the reinforcement is the lighter coloured material at the base of the pillbox) so it has been allowed to remain in-situ.
Variant Anti-Tank and Type 25 Armco Anti-Infantry Pillboxes [TV 5211 9784]
These two boxes sit one above the other on the hillside connected by a partly infilled trench. The upper box is a standard Type 25 'Armco' pillbox, and the lower is a variant box with an unusual diagonal entrance passage which has been closed by a padlocked gate, inside appears to have been converted into a bat sanctuary and the single AT gun embrasure has been blocked.
Building Foundations [TV 520 979]
At the foot of the valley side are these two building foundation on a North South alignment, at a guess they are of World War Two origin and may have been part of the Decoy system for Newhaven.
Variant LMG post [TV 52132 97766]
This variant pillbox was set into the hillside, possibly as a form of camouflage, but now wash from
the cliff above is slowly burying the pillbox. it has a single embrasure, probably for a single light machine gun and a small door and is squarish in shape.
Variant AT Gun Emplacement [TV 52136 97711]
This is a large Anti-Tank gun emplacement in an elevated position. It has a single embrasure, and by the looks of it, once had a brick entrance porch covering the flight of steps down into the structure.
Type 23 Anti-Infantry Pillbox [TV 52135 97690]
A brick-built Type 23 pillbox with 3 embrasures overlooking the beach. This box is also the closest to the sea and incorporates an enclosure for a light Anti-Aircraft gun.
Anti-Tank Ditch and Dragon's Teeth [TV 51 97]
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These obstacles formed a line just behind the East and west Beaches,
supported by minefields and barbed wire. The line consists of a large anti-tank ditch and
'pimple' type blocks on the east bank and an anti-tank wall and a row of concrete cubes on the west bank. On the pimples on the east bank, we identified two apparently original inscriptions in the concrete. The first was very
feint, but appeared to read '133 COY 3 SECT' (3 Section 133 Company, Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps were engaged on anti-tank defences between June 1940 and January 1941) the second was slightly suspect in that most of the the concrete looked
new, but part was clearly original material, so possibly a restoration of the original. Written upside down in a
triangle on the stump of an obstacle was 'D.G. 1940 AMD.'
Variant AT Gun Emplacement [TV 51427 97755]
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Hidden in undergrowth by the footpath, this semi-sunken box is accessed via a flight of steps leading into a chamber with a mounting for a Vickers Gun.
Coastguard Cottages and War Memorial [TV 51 97]
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Although now recognised more readily for their role in the 2006 film Atonement, in the early part of the war, the picturesque Coastguard Cottages served as Battle headquarters of a company of 10th Bn. Royal Sussex Regiment and later of 'B' Coy 6th Bn. Cheshire Regiment. Tragedy struck in 1940 when an entire company of Canadian soldiers camped in the field behind the cottages were killed by an enemy air-raid. The middle cottage took a direct hit, and the C.O., who was shaving at the time was instantly killed. A simple memorial marks the site.
These pillboxes and defences are the last remaining of over a dozen which covered the area, most of which were demolished between the 1950s and the 1990s. Today the area is a Country Park and beauty spot, popular with walkers and cyclists.
The defences have found new use as bat-roosts or simply as curiosities and now some efforts are being made to conserve
them. However, with the ever present threats of erosion and salt laden winds how long they'll last is anyone's guess.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Brooks, A. & Flin, D. (1998) "Could Sealion have worked?"
Available at: http://www.flin.demon.co.uk/althist/seal1.htm Accessed: 27/06/06
Sanders, I. (2001) "Operation Sealion, the German Invasion of Britain 1940."
Available at: http://s134542708.websitehome.co.uk/pillboxes/html/german_invasion_plans.html Accessed: 27/06/06
Longstaff-Tyrell, P. (1998) "Tyrell's List - the artefacts of two great wars in Sussex", Gatehouse Publishing.
Hibbs, P. (2007) "Defence of East Sussex Project" Available at: http://www.pillbox.org.uk/concrete_evidence/database.asp Accessed: 14/07/09
The Council for British Archaeology. (2004) "The Defence of Britain Project"
Available at: http://www.britarch.ac.uk/projects/dob/index.html Accessed: 27/06/06
Hibbs, Peter A. (2006) "NBCD - Blog: Cuckmere Haven defences" Available at: http://www.nbcd.org.uk/blog/detail.asp?ID=41 Accessed: 27/06/06
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