Heavy Anti-aircraft Gun Battery "tn9 Hadleigh", Sandpit Hill, Hadleigh

During and after World War Two, TN9 Hadleigh was a complex site of 5.25"(133 mm) and 4.5" (115 mm) gun emplacements, ancillary buildings and structures, and accommodation huts. All of the accommodation huts have been demolished and the appearance of the site has changed with the addition of a banked reservoir and heaped soil and grass over the gun positions. However, potentially much remains. On the surface there is the post-war Operations Room/Generator Block, rare in the county. The Gun Store is one of only two - the other is at TN10 Vange. The On-Site Magazine is similarly one of only two - the other is at ZE7 Lippitts Hill. Two of the 4.5" emplacements and their command post may remain beneath the soil, but of major importance as no emplacements of this gun calibre remain in Essex. It is probable that the 5.25" emplacements remain intact or semi-intact beneath the ground.

worldwar2heritage