28 Apr 2023
In a belt of trees ten metres south of the A414 near Hedges Farm, Napsbury is a very rare Grade II listed gun turret originally constructed to defend Radlett Airfield and particularly the Handley Page construction hangars during the Second World War.
It is called an Allan-Williams turret of which only 199 were produced and installed. The salvaging of metal after the war meant that only 33 remain in England, and very few remain in situ.
The metal turret could be rotated 360 degrees, giving it a limitless field of fire, and was set above a steel and brick-lined pit. It was designed for a machine gun to be fired either through a front loophole which was further protected by shutters, or through the circular opening in the roof in a light anti-aircraft role.
Both the shutters and the circular opening
could be closed. The turret had a garrison of two or, if necessary three, men, for whom there were folding seats inside. According to the original specification four men could dig the position out and erect the turret ready for firing in two hours and remove it, if necessary, in 30 minutes.
A restored example can be seen at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.
What makes the Hedges Farm example extremely rare, besides it being in its original
position (the steel lined gulley extends south of the turret itself), is that some of the internal fixtures also survive.
“Interest in the fortifications to protect Britain during the Second World War has increased greatly in recent years,” saidDr John Morewood, President of St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society.
“Many of us will recognise the typical pill box type of fortifications. The British Army did not like the Allan-Williams Turret, but the RAF did, so they tended to be erected close to airfields.
“Of course, the majority were removed after the war, so we are lucky to have this one in Hertfordshire. It has survived in its original position for 80 years. The question is will it survive in the future?
“The narrow belt of trees in which it is situated adjoins the land that will form part of the proposed rail freight development.
The documents for the development do not mention the turret and it would be very easy for a constructor just to destroy it, regardless of its Grade II listed status.
“We have therefore added it to our St Albans and District Heritage at Risk Register and ask for steps to be taken to conserve and protect the site. Hopefully the freight development will not go ahead. It would be a pity if that unnecessary development, which will be a blight to so many people’s lives, claimed another victim.”
