Go through the Five Bar Gate and leave Rossall Promenade at Cleveleys and you’ll see the ‘Tank Traps’ between the beach and Rossall School.
They’re a series of square concrete posts lining the edge of the footpath. There’s frequently questions asked about why these blocks were built and what they should be known as. Visit Fylde Coast has been trying to find out…
A Tale of Two Reasons
They’re known locally as the ‘tank traps’. The theory is they were built as anti-tank blocks, to protect against invasion from the sea during World War 2.
It makes sense, because the run-up to land is a gently slope here. This is what it looks like from the beach at low tide –
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However, there’s another theory, that the blocks are nothing more complicated than wave breakers.
Were the blocks built to protect the outdoor swimming pool at Rossall School? To the left of the below is a tall wall – the pool was once directly behind it.
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It’s a mystery – and we’re intrigued!
We’ve made it our mission to try and find out the answer for once and for all! Take a look at the next clip where you can see the blocks much more clearly –
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In the Beginning…
Sonia Percival posted this old aerial photo of the swimming pool. It’s from the Britain from Above website, dated 1937. There’s no sign of any blocks on there. In fact it doesn’t look like there’s much of a sea wall at all – just a gentle slope from beach to land… perfect for driving tanks up!
However, you can see what looks like the Rossall School pool. We’ve looked into Nick Moore’s History of Blackpool for details of when these sea walls were built. It tells us that the school began construction of its open air swimming baths in June 1867, completed and opened in 1870. Would they really have waited until the outbreak of war to protect it from the sea?
Fleetwood’s sea wall was previously been completed in 1928. Then in 1938 the sea wall at Rossall was completed, with groynes built on the beach.
Just across the water at the other side of the River Wyre, Pilling sea wall was constructed during the war years. That included gun emplacements to deter the expected invasion.
Tank Traps – so the ‘Experts’ think
Pootling around the internet (as you do) Visit Cleveleys uncovered a ‘Pillbox Study Group‘. They are ‘Committed To The Study & Preservation Of 20th Century United Kingdom & International Pillboxes & Anti-Invasion Defences’.
So we asked them.
Their answer was “These measure up to anti-tank blocks – a nice find”, going on to add more information…
Following the link provided in the reply takes you to Historic England’s Pastscape Website. There, as Steve Thompson says, is a listing for anti-tank blocks at Rossall School.
The ‘old map’ link takes you to another website and this map below (if it’s relevant).
Unfortunately the information contained in their listing is a bit sketchy, and clicking on the maps/photograph links at the top doesn’t yield much more detail.
It says a vertical aerial photograph is available, dated 10 August 1945, which shows the anti-tank blocks. The photo referred to in the Pastscape listing above is only available to view if it’s purchased. After completing forms and spending several weeks talking to Historic England by email we discovered that the fee to use it was £60. So we didn’t bother! (For now…)
Researching at Rossall School
Then Jean Pastalanga got in touch and provided a copy of this image –
Jean also added:
“A friend of mine worked at Rossall for many years so I asked her about them. She’d never heard them called that – which is not a good start ?. However, she did say it was a private part of the promenade which could be closed off by the school at any time. (I know they definitely used to close it off when the school did their CCF shooting practice!!)”
Jeans friend looked through her various books on Rossall School and later provided some more information…
The promenade was built in 1938. Apparently there had been a big storm the year before which washed away the existing promenade. Fleetwood Council contributed £12,000 of the £15,000 cost, in exchange for access being granted for the public.
Memories of Tank Traps and Mines!
Local businessman Martin Long from Napthens Solicitors is a regular Visit Fylde Coast reader. He got in touch with another bit of information and an eyewitness account… Martin says “I forward your regular newsletter to my elderly father in law Peter Crossley whose family home was ‘The Ridge’ on Rossall Beach. At the time it was the last house before Rossall School. These were his comments:
“I was most interested to read about the concrete blocks on Rossall Promenade. From early 1940 we lived at the house on the promenade called ‘The Ridge’, at the top of Thornton Gate. The blocks had just been built and their purpose, as we were told, was as Tank Traps as the seawall at that point rises very gently from the beach.
“The open fields between Thornton Gate and Rossall School were regularly used by the military. There were rifle butts and quite often small artillery guns arrived to practice firing out to sea.
“All very exciting for a ten year old ! Particularly so when, as we were about to sit down for Christmas Dinner on 25 December 1941, we were given ten minutes to evacuate. There was a large mine floating just off the beach. We had to move,turkey and all, to my Aunts’ house for four or five days.
“Happy memories!”
What do Thornton Cleveleys Past Members Think?
Are you a member of Thornton Cleveleys Past on Facebook? Now that’s an interesting group, full of information about the area. But opinion is also divided there!
Are they tank traps?
Local historian Dick Gillingham tells us “there were shooting ranges to the North and South of Rossall school. The one to the North was far older and used by the school cadets and earlier by the Army as well, on occasions. In WWII there was an RAF range to the South of the school. The tram sidings at Rossall were used by men using the ranges and arriving by tram. The promenade walkway often had to be closed off to allow the Northern range to be used.”
Malcom Crane adds “The whole of the Fylde coast was cordoned off from the public – actually the Knott End seashore was covered in tank traps. It was only the Royal Navy that prevented an invasion. One of my earliest recollections was the prom around Rossall covered in army lorries and equipment.
Days before radar…
Malcolm goes on to add “U boats were operating freely in the Irish Sea until radar put an end to them. They mainly sank fishing boats. The worry was that if neutral Ireland was overrun then the West coast of England was vulnerable. The Germans had invaded neutral countries all over the place. Fortunately the Royal Navy kept the German Navy in check, so they couldn’t have attacked Eire. Fleetwood and Knott End golf courses were fortified and patrolled by the Home Guard.
The case for wavebreakers…
Others remain unconvinced and instead are sure they are wavebreakers.
- Do you know anything? Have you got any photos? Anything to add to help to solve this conundrum?
- Just email jane@theRabbitPatch.co.uk – full credit given, as always!
Ask the Experts…
In July 2020 we posted tweets, asking two experts in the field for their opinion.
- James Holland is a historian, author & broadcaster of the Second World War.
- Tony Pollard is a Professor of Conflict History & Archaeology at the University of Glasgow.
He didn’t answer the first time so we tried again in 2021. Watch this space!
In response to this tweet, Aaron Whiteside posted a link to an interesting blog on the Citizan website, about anti-tank blocks elsewhere on the coast.
Shapes and Dimensions
These structures all followed a “pattern” depending on their use and location; these tank traps follow just one such pattern. Tank “blocks” were either 5 feet cubed or 3.5 feet cubed. Cleveleys neatly falls into the latter.
We followed up Aaron Whiteside’s lead with Citizan, which turned out to be very enlightening. The chap we contacted is Chris Kolonko, the North Team’s Community Archaeologist. As luck would have it, his speciality is wartime anti-invasion defences. With more than 15 year’s experience of recording and interpreting such sites, he’s spent a lot of time looking at Anti-Tank cubes!
Typical anti-tank cube construction
Chris very kindly provided some really interesting information. He says:
I’m fairly certain these are indeed anti-tank cubes, erected as part of a wider anti-tank obstacle.
They appear to be approximately 1.2m wide, which fits the standard dimensions pretty well. They do seem to be slightly taller (approx. 2m) at the front. Although standard dimensions were issued by the War Department at the time, there’s much variation across the country. The biggest examples I’ve seen are on the Yorkshire Coast near Filey, which measure about 1.5m by 2m tall.
Chris said “It would be really useful if you could take some measurements as it’d be nice to see how they compare to the ‘official’ dimensions.” So that’s what we did.
Looking at the cubes, they’re clearly cast in-situ using wooden shuttering as a formwork to pour the concrete into. The impressions of this shuttering are visible in the surface of the cubes. The concrete mix appears to be the pretty standard 1:3:5 mix (1 part cement, 3 parts sand, 5 parts aggregate) used extensively during the war. The aggregate itself is well screened (sorted) for uniformity. The chamfered edges are interesting and are also likely to relate to the formwork used.
Typical anti-tank cube positioning
Looking at the location of the cubes, we can see a couple of things.
Firstly, they’re positioned on the top of the sea wall, cast face-on to the beach. Face-on examples are equally common, although anti-tank cubes are often cast corner-to-corner to cover a larger area.
Placing anti-tank cubes on top of an existing sea wall seems to be pretty commonplace. It often reinforced an existing barrier that would have provided an obstacle to tanks (and other vehicles) but might not necessarily been fully ‘tank-proof’. Similar examples were cast on top of an existing sea wall on the East coast at Withernsea.
It’s interesting looking at the current aerial photographs that the cubes appear to be concentrated in clusters of around six cubes. I’m not sure why there isn’t a continuous barrier, though it could be that some examples were removed post-war to aid access.
From the Tanks point of view…
Ted Bottomley came up trumps with this information about the conundrum from the point of view of the tank. Ted explains:
Very simply, there are three main types and we will concentrate on the German vehicles that would have been used to invade Great Britain during WW2.
A Tank is a tracked vehicle with a gun mounted turret that can be rotated and has elevation control (up and down). The main differences are weight and capabilities. These are:
Assault Tanks
Lightweight, fast, lightly armoured and with a relatively small gun. The Panzer III was typical which was 25 tons in weight, 9’ 6” wide and could typically climb over 18” – 24” defences. This could easily climb the sloping defences at Rossall and get over the small parapet and possibly turn left or right along the sea defences but the latter would be difficult. No chance in getting over the blocks that contributed to the tank traps.
Medium Tanks
The main contender in this class is the Panther which is a larger version of the Panzer. 45 tons in weight and 10’ 9” wide this was the limit for an invasion tank. A bigger gun, heavily armoured and more suited to “street” warfare.
Main Battle Tanks
The Tiger. BIG and HEAVY – 75 tons and 12’ 3” wide. Far too big to be used as an assault tank. Today’s Main Battle Tanks are 80 – 90 tons including the armour. Designed for advancing across ground supporting troops and paving the way for whatever came next…
However, look at the capabilities of each tank:
- All could climb up gradients up to 35 degrees (Rossall beach and defences)
- All except the Panzer could climb up to 3 feet (remember my article regarding the 3.5 feet dimensions of the traps?)
- The Tiger could “Wade” up to 5’ 9” which would cover the sand/mud of Rossall but they could never negotiate the tank traps and the sea defences.
All food for thought?
More Armaments in the Area
If you’re familiar with this stretch of coast you’ve probably also noticed a small outbuild against the seawall in the same area. See it centre right in the next photo.
Slightly further north from the tank traps the rectangular block juts out into the sea. The south side of it is a great sun trap for a spot of sunbathing on a nice day!
Ted Bottomley is convinced it’s a WW2 Gun Emplacement. He says –
“The downwards slope would allow water to drain away rapidly. It would also allow the elevation of the gun to be much lower than usual to targets close to the shoreline.
“The “Bridleway” would allow ammunition to be delivered to the emplacement. It would have had a battery and a small shelter behind the defences.
Did you know? That Adolf Hitler had a soft spot for Blackpool, with the fantasy of making it a German holiday spot? Apparently that’s why it wasn’t bombed in World War Two.
This area was awash with fortifications during the war. Various other tank traps were constructed in fields, for example off Smithy Lane in Lytham. You can still see traces of some of them today. There’s a pillbox near to the entrance of Farmer Parrs – which we explored in 2020.
Citizan’s View on the Gun Emplacement
Chris also offered his expert opinion on the possible gun emplacement. He says:
Anti-tank obstacles would have been covered by effective small arms fire and in some instances anti-tank guns to ensure they weren’t breached by engineers. Our map shows some records for nearby weapon pits and a pillbox, which may have been part of the defences covering the obstacle.
But this possible gun emplacement is a bit of a mystery and has me intrigued. It’s location makes perfect sense for covering the beach in enfilade (along its longest axis) to the North, as well as the base of the seawall.
However, there’s no sign of a gun holdfast (a ring of bolts used to mount a gun). Although it could have been removed, and sealed later by the addition of new concrete. There’s also no sign of a gun house to provide the crew with some cover from aerial attack and the impacts of near misses. The emplacement could have been used for a mobile 2-pounder or 6-pounder anti-tank gun though.
On the level?
It’s highly unusual to find a gun emplacement with a gun platform that isn’t level. Gun emplacements for static guns are often required to be perfectly level to ensure the gun can be fired accurately. Most static guns, such as the 4in QF, 6in BL and 9.2 BL guns commonly used for coastal defence are capable of of being depressed by around 6 to 7 degrees from centre, which negates the need for a sloped platform to depress the gun. If a mobile 2-pounder or 6-pounder anti-tank gun was positioned on the platform to cover the beach in enfilade to the North, the gun also wouldn’t be level. This could make bringing the gun to bear on a target tricky.
Old maps available online show a beach access point on the same location. It’s possible this was once a slipway providing access to the beach for vehicles that has since been truncated.
Unexploded Ordnance
Engineers looked into any potential surprises which they might find when building work began at Anchorsholme Coastal Defences!
Mike Wilkinson is one of the engineers at Wyre Council, and sent us this information. “The UXO (unexploded ordnance) report for Anchorsholme states there was a WWII armament training facility in the location.”
What do you think?
Looking at all of this evidence, it seems likely to us that the concrete blocks and the outbuild are military defences.
What do you think? Leave a comment below!
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They are definitely tank traps. The Fleetwood Chronicle of 15th February 1946 reported on a seawall breach adjacent to Rossall School’s open-air baths. The damage was blamed on the 1938 sheet piling not being deep enough. The report noted that: “until dusk, scores of Rossall School boys, armed with shovels and in gym kit, helped Corporation workmen to throw gravel and boulders into the breach”, and that “the repair work was made more difficult by concrete anti-invasion cubes which nearly blocked the path of supplies to the breach”.
I was very interested to read all the articles about the rifle range North of Rossall school. An OS Map from 1985 shows a hospital very near the rifle range to the North. My interest however is to the East and near Abbeystead at a farm called Gilberton. If you were to put a pin in a map at Fleetwoods Charity school Preesall, Pilling Mill and Forton Service Station the hospital at Rossall is the West end point.
I wouldn’t have been too interested in the map line if JFK had not been murdered.
I really can’t see these blocks being tank traps. When Hitler was planning the invasion of Britain in 1940 the British Government were well aware of the limited capabilities of the lighter German tanks in use at that stage of the war. The Panzer 1s, 11s 111s and Skodas could in fact be stopped in their tracks by a reinforced 3ft high concrete wall, so there was really no need for those concrete behemoths. The more famous German heavy tanks…Panthers, Tigers, King-Tigers came much later in the war when invasion plans had long been forgotten by Hitler.
It was also policy by the Germans to transport and unload tanks from heavy freighters, usually in captured dock facilities, after key points had been captured by light infantry or parachute units; for example in the Channel Isles.
Surviving concrete (pyramidal) tank traps can still be found in Fleetwood on Fleetwood road, partially hidden by St. George’s playing fields boundary hedge, near to the Nautical College.
Don’t know if this is relevant, but I do remember there being ‘dragons teeth’ tank traps by the tram tracks between Rossall Square and Broadwater in the late 60’s. As for promenade defences, there was an apparently undefended wide ramp used for launching boats by Rossall Hospital, though this could have been added after the floods in the 1950’s.
That’s very interesting and adds to the evidence. Thanks!
The “tank traps” on the promenade at Rossall are nothing to do with the War. They were built to break up the waves before they reached the open-air swimming pool that stood there.
They were erected by Stuart’s Granolithic Co Ltd of 4 Fenchurch Street, London. There are records of orders placed with them that year for “reinforced concrete structures” at Two more factories at Hayes, .Middlesex; extensions to Maltina Bakeries, Blackfriars; new block at the Royal Hospital, Sheflield — to be called the Eldon Block; University Liverpool, block of buildings for the Students’ Union ; reservoir at Bury, Lanes; silos for cotton seed, Stoneferr\’ ; silos for grain at Barn,’ Dock; schools at Rossall, Fleetwood”.
I am surprised that no research has been done with Wyre Council to ascertain when the defences at this point were in fact built. There is evidence that they were not there before the outbreak of war, and there is also evidence that the defences at this point were rebuilt subsequent to the destructive flood of 1954.
We have checked with Wyre Council. They don’t appear to have anything in their records.
There are/were loads of tank traps by the old railway lines in Fleetwood. I used to go there as a kid but not sure if they’re still there. I can’t remember who told me (probably my dad) what they were and how they ‘worked’. Dad was brought up in Thornton, along the river Wyre in the 40s, so I imagine he would have a good idea.
Really interesting article, all I can add is that where I live in Warton, and according to my deeds the MOD did pay for the right to construct a ‘tank trap’ (basically a very deep ditch) across our fields. So this would loosely tie in with defending the whole of the Fylde coast. However if you looked at the site of our tank traps (They’re mostly filled in), it raises more questions than answers.
No idea how some come to think of these blocks near five bar gate are tank traps as these structures wouldn’t stop a tank they would just flatten these blocks, especially the way they have been constructed, no ditch would stop it either.
To make tank traps they are normally diamond shape so the tank tracks can’t get a firm hold to drive it forward ( or back).
Even the heaviest of tanks could not drive over or through those blocks, except of course by simply drive through the gaps.
A wide enough & deep enough ditch will stop a tank as they are too heavy to ‘swim’ but won’t of course stop amphibious landing craft.
The pyramid shape tank traps are known as Dragon’s Teeth.
I don’t think those at Rossall are tank traps, just wave breakers.