MSO12289 - Second World War pillbox, Vale House, Roadwater (Monument)

An inland defence pillbox survives in good condition. [1] The pillbox was originally disguised as a small building with a pitched shingle roof and painted windows. [2] The pitched roof still survives in position and although there is vegetation growing on it, it appears to be in good condition. [3] In view of the importance of the surviving wooden roof the pillbox was selected for scheduling. However, following prenotification of this, the roof has been removed. [4] Monument scheduled on 24 July 2002. [5] The pillbox is shuttered with concrete blocks inside and red brick outside. The walls are 24 inches thick and it has a concrete flat roof. There is no internal blast wall. It has steel-framed steel shutters on the gun ports, and the one on the door side is 7 inches wide x 12 inches high. The door is on the approx northwest side. It is in a fair condition, but some of the outer bricks are missing due to plant damage, and it has some plant growth on it. [6] A replica roof has been placed on the pillbox. [7] The lead from the replica roof (used for waterproofing) was stolen in 2008 and the decision was made to replace it with grey fibreglass which has the same apperance but not the commerical value of lead. This work was undertaken in October 2008. [8] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a survival score of 3. [9] The site was surveyed in May 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 0. [11]