Usworth, WW2 Roadblock

HER Number:
5851

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Usworth, WW2 Roadblock

Place:
Usworth

Map Sheet:
NZ35NW

Class:
Defence

Site Type: Broad:
Defence Obstruction

Site Type: Specific:
Road Block

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Site of WW2 concrete roadblock. Near RAF Usworth (HER 1824). Stop-lines included permanent and moveable road barriers. The most substantial works were formed from square or cylindrical concrete blocks entwined with barbed wire and fitted with explosives. Moveable obstacles consisted of horizontal or vertical bars or poles of steel, set between concrete blocks. Bent steel girders could also be slotted into sockets cut into the road surface. Modern road improvements are removing evidence for both, but some of the original blocks or aperatures have been observed in-situ. Cylindrical blocks have been used to line private roads or placed on river banks to combat erosion {Defence of Britain Handbook 1995}.

Easting:
3300

Northing:
5840

Grid Reference:
NZ33005840

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 5851 >> Alan Rudd, of 20th century defence sites in Tyne and Wear