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Pillbox DHP No.228 is a modern defensive structure located in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, built during the Second World War as part of Britain's extensive home defence preparations. The pillbox stands on bedrock of the Lough Neagh Clays Group, sediments of Oligocene age comprising clay and lignite deposits that underlie much of the surrounding landscape. This geological foundation provided stable ground for the concrete structure, though the clay subsoil presented drainage challenges typical of sites in this region.
The pillbox represents a standardized form of anti-tank and anti-personnel defence architecture deployed widely across the United Kingdom from 1940 onwards. Such structures were strategically positioned to command approaches and protect key installations or terrain, with their robust concrete construction designed to withstand small arms fire and blast effects. The design reflected urgent wartime engineering solutions, built quickly and in large numbers without elaborate fortification.
The monument is protected as a record of mid-twentieth-century military heritage by the Historic Environment Division under reference 5331. These pillboxes are now recognized as significant witnesses to Britain's civilian and military mobilization during the Second World War, and their survival provides valuable evidence of wartime defensive strategies and construction practices across the country.
Pillbox - dhp no.228 is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 5331. View the official record →
Pillbox DHP No.228 is a modern defensive structure located in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, built during the Second World War as part of Britain's extensive home defence preparations. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 5331.
Pillbox - dhp no.228 dates from the modern period, and is classified as a pillbox. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Pillbox - dhp no.228 is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 5331.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Lisbane. multivallate rath (6.9 km), Wwii pillbox - dhp no.42 (7.5 km), Pillbox - dhp no. 38 (7.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Pillbox - dhp no.228'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.
Pillbox - dhp no.228 stands on Lough Neagh Clays Group, bedrock that formed in the Oligocene. The rock here is clay and lignite.