Bodiam Castle
The Pill Box
The Pill Box at Bodiam Castle
Rising from the grounds of Bodiam Castle is a lasting reminder of a more recent piece of English history. Close to the castle's original entrance is a Second World War pillbox, built to protect the homeland from German invasion. Like the castle itself, the pillbox never saw active service but the home guard manned it every day and every night until the end of the war.
The pillbox at Bodiam is still in its original state and now an audio display tells the story of the soldiers who manned the box in wartime. By venturing into the pillbox and sitting on the wall-benches, you'll get a feel for what it was like for the young soldiers manning the box on draughty nights waiting for something to happen.
The Bodiam pill box is part of a network of defences that was hastily built in 1940 to prevent an anticipated German invasion. The most common of these defences were pillboxes - squat concrete forts that were sited at road junctions, canals and other strategic points.
It is estimated that less than 6,000 of a total of the 28,000 pillboxes built still survive.
The Pill Box in the grounds of Bodiam Castle
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