The Gatehouse at Bonds Mill at

Stonehouse, Gloucestershire Stonehouse is a town in the Stroud District of Gloucestershire in southwestern England. The town centre is 2.5 miles east of the M5 motorway, junction 13. Stonehouse railway station has a regular train service to London. The town is situated ...

, England, was constructed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a defensive

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, often ...

as part of the Stop Line Green. It is a rare example of a two-storey pillbox with a rooftop gun emplacement and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It is now used as a visitor centre run by the

Cotswold Canals Trust The Cotswold Canals Trust is a British registered charity that aims to protect and restore the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames and Severn Canal. Formed in 1972, the organisation has a goal to restore navigability on the two waterways betw ...

. It was built in 1940, as one of sixteen pillboxes alongside the

Stroudwater Navigation The Stroudwater Navigation is a canal in Gloucestershire, England which linked Stroud to the River Severn. It was authorised in 1776, although part had already been built, as the proprietors believed that an Act of Parliament ( 3 Geo. 2. c. 1 ...

, a canal that links

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the ...

to the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary () is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England (from North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire) and South Wales (from Cardiff, Newport to Monmouthshire). Its very h ...

. It has an octagonal floorplan based on the

Type 24 pillbox British hardened field defences of World War II were small fortified structures constructed as a part of British anti-invasion preparations. They were popularly known as '' pillboxes'', a reference to their shape. Background With the Germa ...

, the ground floor being constructed of reinforced concrete and the upper storey is red brick. It is situated on the north side of the canal, across from the former Bond's Mill, which was being used during the war by

Sperry Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County * Sperry, Missouri *Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County * Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana * Sperry Glaci ...

as a dispersal factory to manufacture gyroscopic compasses. After the war it was adapted for use as a gatehouse for the mill and later to include hydraulic controls for the bridge that crosses the canal. The historic swing bridge had survived the closure of the navigation in 1954, but had been widened and was no longer operable - it was in a very poor structural condition by the early 1990s. In 1994 the original bridge was replaced with the world's first composite plastic lift bridge for vehicular traffic, with the weight savings enabling reuse of the original abutments and no requirement for a counterweight. The composite lift bridge has not been in regular operation while awaiting restoration of the rest of the canal, and has now deteriorated mechanically and structurally to the point where replacement is likely to be required as part of Phase 1B "The Missing Mile" reconnection to the national waterway network by 2025, likely with a conventional steel/counterweight design similar t
that fitted at Lodgemore

References

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External links

Bond's Mill Gatehouse — Visitor Centre
Stroud District Fortifications in England Grade II listed buildings in Gloucestershire