During the latter period of the war, and the period directly after the war, Studlands extensive defences were slighted. Preparations for D Day saw tons of ordinance thrown at the beaches here. Some were left almost undamaged, those on the heath side, whilst the rest were either damaged or completely destroyed, their remains spread across the land surface, much now covered by the restless dune environment. Nature has a way of taking back what is hers. Beyond the beach lays the remains of one of several coastal batteries; when I visited last, some 4 years ago, what remained was a massive heap of concrete and reinforcing bar rubble, with very few diagnostic features, but still visibly a site of human activity. Today the heap has been camouflaged by gorse, grass and wild plants, and other than a crown of reinforced concrete slab, the site was returning to nature.
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