North Weald Redoubt - North Weald - August 2023
Off to explore a place thats seemingly somewhat "easy" for access for beginners and interesting enough to satisfy the military and subterranean nerd in me, I made my way to North Weald Bassett, not far North East from Epping.
Not having a car at my disposal, it was still somewhat easy to get to. If you want to ride an old double decker bus from Epping, this is your chance!
History
First off, a little bit of history. As there have been many reports about this place, I'm not digging to deep and keep it short and sweet instead.
In March 1889, Parliament announced the London Defence Scheme, a plan that dealt with mounting fears of the vulnerability of London.
Only prior, advancements in Russias and Frances Battleships were picking up the pace, enough for the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom to be worried that the South of England could be easily overrun in case of war.
For fortification, a belt of 13 Mobilisation Centers was constructed in 5 mile intervals. They were comprised of stores and magazines for equipment and ammunition in their casemates, which were embedded in earthwork, among gun emplacements.
One of those forts was North Weald Redoubt. And indeed, starting construction in 1889 and finishing in 1904 it served to hold arms and rounds throughout the First World War. After, it was used as a storage for the nearby Ongar Radio Station.
Today it is in private hand and has actually a scheduled monument since the early 70s!
Getting there
The weather was nice, so the little walk from the town center wasn't too bad. Nice views of the fields too, before making it towards the Redoubt.
Being so carried away by seeing a path going through some hedges and after scratching myself up like just having wrestled with a puma, I realised the debris and old guy wires probably belonged to the bits with the old radio masts... always keep an eye on the map kids. I sheepishly made my way out and towards the main perimeter on one of the walking paths along the redoubt.
Access was less scarier than I thought and the almost welcoming entry bridge was a sight to behold. Of course, after deciding to put my new waders on that I got just for exploring the flooded areas of the old mobilisation center, I ran into another group of explorers. Turned out later, that it seemed like an open day as it almost got a bit crowded...
Yucky yucky
Still - I was the only one with waders. Checkmate.
The water didnt seem too deep, which was nice. There are may pictures on the net with the water level maybe a foot away from the top edge of the door frames. The smell though... luckily it faded a bit after poking the water surface to get rid of whatever gas the questionable bits decomposing under the mud released.
There were lots bits and bobs floating around. Old furniture, racks, in one case an entire wooden wall that closed off one of the concrete rooms that ran along the casemates.
To my relief, the spider popluation seemed quite low in there, and instead really snazzy looking black moths (butterflies?) were hanging out on the ceiling. The creepiest discovery that day was probably a questionable slimy pigeon nest with eggs - whose old occupier was floating face down in the yellow water in the other end of the casemates. Yuck.
Sadly, the grimy water didnt allow too much of a good look at the rooms and hallways contents. I could make out remnants of old smashed toilet bowls and nearly got a heart attack after thinking I just saw old artillery rounds at the bottom. Turned out the things were part of something that looked like an old cable reel of some sorts.
Back on land
After the refreshing bath and luckily not having neither myself or my gear soaked in stinky water, it was time to explore the rest of the area.
One of the old Allen Williams turrets seems to be in an awful state now. I don't think it's been damaged further but it looks like it's been used as a bin for some of the countless drinks cans littering the area.
My favourite part was probably the dry rear section of the casemates. By the looks of it, people had some quality time having lit up one of the magazines with dozens of tea candles. The rest of that area seemed actually somewhat reasonable tidy in places.
Having spent what felt like hours exploring, I backtracked to my entry point, but still had the overground buildings to see.
This was probably the more interesting part if you're into discovering graffiti, apart from the well known fish in the dry casemates.
Also, someone had used the remnants of the main building as their own private airsoft shooting range, with a few targets littered about.
And that was it. A really good experience for not having explored anything in decades. I still have to learn how to make better use of my phone camera (ahem, if I had only used the low light mode) and maybe I'll come back. There are so many things dotted around that I surely wouldn't mind. And next time, it'll be on a day with better bus service on the way back. It was quite the hike back to catch a train in Epping!
