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Pentre-Cwrt Pillbox is a concrete defensive structure built during the Second World War, situated in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference CD260. Pillboxes of this type were constructed rapidly across Britain between 1940 and 1941 as part of anti-invasion defences following the fall of France. The structure at Pentre-Cwrt represents one of thousands of such emergency fortifications designed to house a small garrison of troops with machine-gun or anti-tank capabilities.
The pillbox stands on Ashgill Rocks, an undifferentiated bedrock formation composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone laid down during the Ashgill period of the Ordovician. This geological foundation provided a stable base for the concrete construction, though the soft nature of the parent rock would have presented no particular difficulty for foundation works. The local landscape and geology shaped the defensive strategy of the region during wartime.
Like most pillboxes of its era, the structure reflects the standardised designs produced by military engineers and adapted to local circumstances. Its survival to the present day as a protected monument provides evidence of civilian and military preparations during one of Britain's most critical periods. Such structures have become increasingly valued as archaeological records of mid-twentieth-century conflict and defence planning.
Pentre-Cwrt Pillbox is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CD260. View the official record →
Pentre-Cwrt Pillbox is a concrete defensive structure built during the Second World War, situated in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference CD260.
Pentre-Cwrt Pillbox dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a pillbox. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Pentre-Cwrt Pillbox is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is CD260.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Crug Bach Round Barrow (5.7 km), Crug Glas Round Barrow (5.8 km), Gareg Hir Standing Stone (5.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Pentre-Cwrt Pillbox's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Pentre-Cwrt Pillbox stands on Ashgill Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.