page_title: Box Hill, Surrey
section_title: Military History
hierarchical_section_title: Box Hill, Surrey / History / Military History
caption_attribution_description: English: A scheduled monument, Box Hill Fort is a relic from the 1890s, when a chain of such sites were built to defend London in case of invasion by France or Russia.This is a photo of listed building number 1018074.
context_page_description: Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs in Surrey, approximately 31 km south-west of London. The hill gets its name from the ancient box woodland found on the steepest west-facing chalk slopes overlooking the River Mole. The western part of the hill is owned and managed by the National Trust, whilst the village of Box Hill lies on higher ground to the east. The highest point is Betchworth Clump at 224 m above OD, although the Salomons Memorial overlooking the town of Dorking is the most popular viewpoint.
  Box Hill lies within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and forms part of the Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest. The north- and south-facing slopes support an area of chalk downland, noted for its orchids and other rare plant species. The hill provides a habitat for 40 species of butterfly, and has given its name to a species of squash bug, now found throughout south-east England.
  An estimated 850,000 people visit Box Hill each year.
context_section_description: In the latter half of the 19th century, growing public concern over the ability of the British armed forces to repel an invasion (stoked, in part, by the serialisation of George Tomkyns Chesney's 1871 novella The Battle of Dorking), prompted the government to announce the construction of thirteen fortified mobilisation centres, collectively known as the London Defence Positions. Two centres were built on Box Hill, approximately 2.5 km (1.6 mi) apart: one close to the present National Trust visitor centre (commonly called Box Hill Fort) and the other close to the summit of the hill, to the south of the present day Box Hill village (known as Betchworth Fort).
  The sites were purchased from the trustees of the Hope estate by the Ministry of Defence in 1891, and construction began in 1899. The two centres were laid out in the form of an infantry redoubt typical of the period, but also included magazines (partially below ground level) for the storage of shells and cartridges. (In common with the majority of the eleven other mobilisation centres, the forts were designed for the use of the infantry only and the stored ammunition was intended for the use of mobile field artillery which would be deployed nearby as required.) The main flat-roofed buildings were built in brick and reinforced concrete and were protected from artillery fire by crescent-shaped earth blast banks, surrounded by an outer ditch.
  A reform of defence policy by the Secretary of War Viscount Haldane in 1905 resulted in all 13 centres being declared redundant, and both forts were sold back to the estate trustees in 1908. Both forts are protected by a Scheduled Monument listing. The National Trust owns the Box Hill Fort and a metal grill has been placed over the entrance to allow bats to access to their roosts. The Betchworth Fort is in private ownership and is not accessible to the public.
  During the World War II, the River Mole comprised part of the fortified GHQ Line B. This defensive line ran along the North Downs from Farnham via Guildford to Dorking, before following the river to Horley. Between Betchworth and Box Hill, the north bank of the River Mole was stabilised and made steeper to prevent wheeled vehicles from crossing. At Boxhill Farm, where access to the river from the north bank was required for the herd of dairy cows, a row of twelve concrete cylinders were cast as an anti-tank measure. Gun mounts were also installed to protect both Boxhill and Deepdene bridges and several pillboxes were constructed. The Stepping Stones at the foot of the hill were removed as an anti-invasion measure.
  From 1940, Headley Court was used as the Headquarters for the VII Corps and later for the Canadian Corps and Canadian troops were billeted at High Ashurst. Bellasis House was used as training centre both for Czech agents of the Special Operations Executive and for German Prisoners of War. In preparation for D-Day, Headley Heath was used for tank and combat training by the Canadian armed forces, and the area known as The Pyramids is named after the piles of ammunition that they kept on the heath. Betchworth Quarry was used by the British Army in early 1944, to test the firing capabilities of Churchill tanks.
caption: Box Hill Fort, constructed in 1899. Note the earth blast bank (left) which protects the south west face of the flat-roofed main building (right).[44]
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