Slighted, though for the most part not in war; much of the World War Two archaeology on Goldlingston Heath and the Studland peninsula were just left forlorn, and have fallen to the ravages of time, a different battle in an endless war. A lot of the areas wartime sites were war torn, it's true, though not by an enemy, but by the allies; the Studland peninsula was an off limits secret training and weapons testing area. The beaches saw rolling artillery and rocket barrages from landing craft, the development and testing of 'Hobarts Funnies', and all manner of other preparations for defence and the D-Day invasion, culminating in live fire exercises watched by massed allied commanders. From the invasion fears period of 1940, right through to the end of the war, Studland saw military activity, in fact, it was so heavily used that it wasn't until the 1960's that areas of the beaches and dunes were cleared of ordinance and re-opened to the public. Some years back I had to call the rangers to contact Bomb Disposal after discovering a live wartime rocket protruding at 45 degrees amongst the dunes. The above sites; the remaining section of a line of Anti Tank Obstacles (ATO's) at Bramble Bush Bay and a Type 25 Pillbox beneath Redend Point survived the war years intact, and haven't done too badly since, though the rigours of time are beginning to show, and the cracks are beginning to appear. I first saw these sites in the 70's and have witnessed their decline first hand. Over the years the ATO's have become undercut and are toppling, and as for the Pillbox, I remember when it was still well up the cliff side, rather than in the intertidal. I suppose it's quite a wonder that they endure at all, after all most of the Studland peninsulas wartime sites, as with military buildings throughout the country at the time, were constructed in haste and with diminishing resources. 15 years ago I spent a lot of time recording the wartime sites on Goldlingston Heath and the Studland peninsula, I feel it may be time for a review of them.
