Geeky thread warning. Or, if you’re like me, a cool bit of 20th Century urban archaeology. Check out this shop in Kingston. What’s unusual about it (aside from its no-doubt-excellent nails service)?
On its gable-end, the wall is double-thickness up to about 6 feet. Why?
On closer inspection, it’s a thick layer of concrete, either up against or cutting through the wall of the presumably brick building. This shop has been armoured...
Even better, this concrete has two wide-angled loopholes in it. The right hand one has been completely filled in, the other left partially open for a handy security box cubby-hole. Armoured and loopholed - this is a fortified shop. A shop with a bunker built-in!
A south-facing, concrete fortification, near a major Thames crossing... This fortified shop is part of London’s WW2 invasion defence network, specifically part of London Stop Line Central (Line B). It was built in 1940 or 1941 to slow German tanks should the worst happen.
It played its small part in history (and thank goodness it was never needed) but I love that it still survives, an otherwise unnoticed chunk of concrete lining an alleyway by a nail bar. You never know what’s around you until you look!
There are *loads* of remnants of Britain’s defences that we never notice - some are destroyed unwittingly every year. There’s a searchable database to find those near you here: archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/…
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