Monument record MBC48625 - WW2 ROADBLOCK, STONE BRIDGE

A Second World War roadblock is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located on the NW facing side of Stone Bridge and centred at SP 79539 15221, the roadblock comprises 2 lines of (probably) concrete rectangular blocks on the roadside. Each line comprises 2 pairs of blocks, I pair on either side of the road. Each block is about 1.5 x 1.5 metres. The 2 lines are separated by 30 metres. It is likely that between the blocks and across the road surface would have been square sockets into which lengths of steel railway line or girder could be placed vertically, effectively blocking the road. Contemporary accounts of Aylesbury recall that certain roads had concrete blocks across them, manned by L.D.V. (Local Defence Volunteers) and then Home Guards. Still visible on aerial photographs taken in 1949, the line of blocks nearest the bridge appears to have been removed by 1950 and the line furthest from the bridge removed by 1961 (1-7).