Concrete Blockade

Buried beneath Beach Green are almost 200 five-foot square concrete wartime anti-tank blocks.

They were part of the shore line defence system.They were too large to take off the site and so in 1946 it was decided to bury them and they have remained there ever since.

Historical 1946 view of wartime anti-tank blocks being buried at Beach Green, Lancing. The burial of these blocks helped raise the level of the green, which was previously a low-lying area prone to tidal flooding and part of the historical Widewater lagoon system.

View in 1946, image courtesy Bob Brown

Recently and controversially it was planned to have all the blocks dug out and crushed, they had begun to cause problems as the soil covering was eroding and exposing parts of the concrete to the surface.
The community formed an action committee and persuaded the council that a top dressing of re-seeded soil would be a better solution.

Modern view

.Shoreham Herald Article 13th May 2004