On the western mountainside near the Branscombe car park a pillbox was built in the early 1940s to defend the beach. Together with 2 or 3 more bunkers, anti-tank obstacles, barbed wire defences and minefields they guarded the entrance to Branscome and Vicarage. The pillbox is type FW3/24 for light machine guns and has a hexagonal shape. As the photo shows a modified shape was built here.
Modifications were common in the construction of English bunkers, a common modification to this type of bunker is besides the shape a modified firing opening for Boys Anti-tank Rifle on its T shaped bipod. The FW3/24 was designed for riflemen or Bren gun crews and was one of the most common pillbox types in the United kingdom. It was widely used along stop lines like the Taunton Stop Line and other strategic locations.
On the opposite slope, the eastern slope, there is another survivor, a second pillbox of the FW3/24 type, but also adjusted to the defencive needs on this location.
Visit
Both pillboxes are accessible to the public and can be reached via public footpaths. The car can be parked in the paid parking lot near a restaurant. A single anti-tank obstacle can still be seen on the beach.
