Our recent work cleared cherry laurel that had fallen over and begun colonising the solid concrete base of a Nissen Hut. There are many of these still surviving throughout the woods on the main ‘circuit’ of paths framing the wide lawns around the house, but many more, fortunately, that have been entirely removed.
There were three military camps at Kings Weston during WWII, the remains visible on the main paths being part of the British Army’s works. Unlike the later American camps, Sea Mills Camp A and B on the golf course, the British huts were integrated into the historic landscape with sensitivity, preserving historic trees and aligning along the established parkland avenues and paths.
With the secrecy originally required in constructing these military establishments it’s difficult to uncover how they were used and who was stationed there. Different services and divisions appear to have come and gone at different stages of the war.
The concrete base gives a little away regarding its use. It had an enclosing porch or blast wall protecting its entrance adjacent to the main path. A few features survive embedded in the floor. These include two brick plinths, one immediately in front of the visitor on entering, and eh other more centrally located beyond it. These, it is assumed, were hearths or the bases of stoves to heat the building. There appears to have been a cinder-block wall separating the entrance of the building from the inside, but much has been erased here. Along each of the long sides of the hut base are regular raised portions of concrete; these are less easy to interpret, but may have been where the steel arched frame sections attached to the base; on top of these would have been laid the familiar corrugated iron sheeting.
The use of the building remains unknown, but it may well have been a dorm block where beds would have been aligned along either side, the stoves offering much-needed warmth in the winter.
More WWII finds have recently been donated to us by the owners of Wood Lodge, Penpole Lane. Picked out of the ground during gardening work, a large number of shards of crockery have been unearthed over the last few years. Otherwise anonymous white china pieces are given an interesting historic dimension through the printed makers mark identifying their NAAFI use and a series of helpful dates. The Navy, Army, and Air Force Institute provided canteen and entertainment services for troops during WWII. These fragments were, no doubt, discarded after breakages during the war and thrown aside. The dates are spread through just three years between 1942 and 1944, giving a helpful insight on the use of the estate in the years running up to D-Day.
