TWENTIETH CENTURY DEFENCE SITES of TYNE and WEAR

PREFACE
By Alan Rudd
Over the centuries the North of England attracted a wide variety of defensive structures to
counter threats from both near neighbours and Europe. This led to the development and
building of a large number of defensive structures varying from the Roman Wall to the
medieval castles for which Northumberland is renowned, up to the twentieth century
fortifications of pillboxes and nuclear bunkers. These structures cover a wide variety of types
and design, reflecting the military engineering techniques of the time.
The period covered in this book is from 1900 to 2000, the Twentieth century, a period of
rapidly changing military threats and hardware. We have seen in the period the advent of the
plane and the tank and the wane of the military threat from close quarters, to the development
of the nuclear bomb and the long-range Cruise missile.
In Tyne and Wear a large number of Military structures have been built in this period, these
structures began with the redevelopment of the coastal batteries on the Tyne at the start of
the century. The batteries built at both Tynemouth and South Shields were at the time “state
of the art” with all new guns and emplacements. The next building period came with the onset
of the First World War, when some new structures were build though little remains today. The
greatest period of building came with the total war period of the Second World War and
reflected the advent of air power and the threat of invasion. There are a number of structures
from this time still in existence throughout the County. With regard to the post-War period,
though some building were built, these were more transient in nature and have in the most
part been removed and redeveloped.
This book will hopefully provide an overview of what is left to see and give an appreciation of
their place in history along with an indication of the importance of individual structures within
the military tactics of the time.
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