Stone Hill PB 1, Stone Hill [1940- ]

Based on Rob's place marker I went to look for Stone Hill PB1 this afternoon. It's still there, well off the beaten track and seldom visited judging by the thickness of the surrounding undergrowth. It's impossible to see until you're almost infront of it. Even when standing on its roof I had no idea it was under my feet. Only after finding it did I realized there's a very easy way to get to it.

Starting at the roundabout where Stanley Village Road meets the road around the Island, head towards Repulse Bay. After a few hundred meters you pass the "Stanley Mound Fresh Water Pumping Station Extension 1988" building. Continue on for about another hundred meters until you reach here.

 It's difficult to see, but in the trees opposite is a set of steps. There's a notice at the bottom saying "no unauthorized access", but since the gate is wide open, and all the land behind it is open to the public, I don't think using the steps is a problem.

After climbing the steps for a short distance you reach here.

 After the kink, the concrete path continues straight on while an older set of steps turn right. The concrete path is very overgrown, but stay on it and push through the undergrowth.

Just a short distance later you come to the pillbox standing next to the path.

 The pillbox consists of one room with three machine gun "loops", an entrance and a "window", which I think was probably added after the military abandoned the building.

The entrance is in the eastern wall and appears to have been partly blocked by earth.

Next to the entrance is the loop covering Stanley Gap Road.

The front wall contains the "window" and two loop holes. This is it from its western end.

Some close-ups. First the"window".

Then the middle loop.

And the west loop.

Given its position above the only road around the Island, I'd presumed the role of this pillbox was to control movement on the road. Evidently it was not its main role however, as only one of its three loop holes covers the road. The other two look at right angles across the road towards Stanley and Tai Tam Bay. I now wonder if covering Stanley Village Road and Stanley Main Beach was its main role.  

Inside, the pillbox is a mess. It was obviously occupied by squatters post war. They seem to have moved out in a hurry. The next two photos were taken from the entrance.

The semi-circular machine gun mounting can be seen under the middle loop. The absence of a similar structure under the "window" indicates it was not originaly a loop that was subsequently widened. 

The final snap was taken though the "window".

The entrance is at the rear right corner. I didn't notice at the time, but looking at the photo now, it seems that the entrance is not a full sized door. This is the first time I've come across the apparent absence of a full sized door in a pillbox. Anyone got any idea why there isn't a full sized door? 

Thanks to Rob for posting the location of this and all the other sites. I never would have looked here without his direction.

I had the opportunity recently to visit this pill box.  I must say the entire area is shrouded in mystery.  I managed to crawl through hole and into the pill box itself.  I believe that this is a pre or post war window and not an actually entrance.  The actual door is inside a room that is completely barricaded with old bed frames and debris.  I wasn’t able to access this room.  From what I found inside the pill box I could somewhat determine it’s post war past.  I found a newspaper which just barely read our November 1972.  On top of that I found a lighter and upon doing research I found out it was a 50’s-60’s Japanese lighter which I found ironic.  I plan to go back to the pill box to see if I can dig up more artifacts.  The only problem is the spider webs. But if I come back better prepared it should be easy.  

USA Patriot,

Ah, thanks for answering my question, mystery solved! I didn't spot the "original" entrance when I visited. In retrospect I should have remembered that pillbox doors tend not to open directly into the main room of the pillbox. Good luck on any future visits. Loads of stuff left inside to go through. Watch out for other nasties, e.g. snakes, in addition to the spiders.  

Glad I could help.  I found a pan am bag and on the other side was the New York City of spider eggs.  The disappointing thing is there’s a whole other room that’s barricaded off by rusty door frames.  

Should we form a working party to clear away the overgrowth on the outside so we can appreciate the PB more easily?

Im 100% with you on clearing out the vegetation and debri.  This Pill Box is very significant and very forgotten and abused as shown in the photos.  However, to me the vegetation is not the problem.  Its the trash.  If I have the time I will return to this Pill Box and work on clearing out the interior.  And hey, in a few months this Pill Box may become the most popular.  It definitley has the potential.  And I dont feel right leaving this pill box without seeing inside that mystery room.  I can definitley fit inside that window and work on clearing the inside.  From what Ive seen I believe that this Pill Box might be like the one at Wong Nei Chong Gap rode (Pill Box 3).  This is all speculation, but there are no visible door ways into this Pill Box.  Only 1 window.  This leads me to believe there might be a tunnel system like PB 3. I have wire cutters and If its all right with the community I would open up the second (larger) window which has post war fencing installed. (If I can) The terrific thing about this PB is there is no graffite.   So, to recap my long and ranting paragraph. 

1. Stone Hill PB1 may have a tunnel connection that is currently blocked by debri.

2. Removal of trash inside and outside is a must.

3. Stone Hill PB1 has a post war fence installed which I would be willing to remove for better entry.

So in concluction the answer is yes.  But in my opinion I would focus on the inside first.