A REMARKABLE piece of military history which had lain forgotten under a thicket of trees for decades has been uncovered in Crewkerne, South Somerset. Earlier this month, members of the Crewkerne Town Council grounds team used chainsaws to reveal a Second World War pillbox on the A30 Yeovil Road near Wadham School.

Several pillboxes were built along the A30 in 1940 to safeguard against the risk of a Nazi invasion in the South West. The A30, which runs from Cornwall to London, was seen as a strategically important route by the War Office in 1940. Their primary purpose was to repel any incursions by foreign troops advancing on London. They were part of a defensive line to stop German forces pushing west in the event of invasion.