Battle Remains on the Somme Battlefields, France
Battle remains are listed here which are accessible to the public or easy to see for visitors to the 1914-1918 Somme battlefields.
In the list below click 
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Butte de Warlencourt, Le Sars
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The Butte de Warlencourt located to the east of the Albert-Bapaume road near Le Sars. 
The Butte de Warlencourt is an artificial hill. It was used as a location of strategic high ground in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 and again in the Battles of the Somme in 1916 and 1918. The Butte was full of tunnels even before the Germans fortified it in the First World War. The Butte was taken by the British when the German Army retreated to the Hindenburg Line (called the Siegfriedstellung) in February 1917. The hill was retaken during the German offensive in March 1918. The British 21st Division captured the Butte on 25th August 1918 during the Allied Advance to Victory.
The Butte has been owned by The Western Front Association since 1990. There is a memorial plaque and bronze diorama on the summit. Access may be restricted depending on the cover of undergrowth over the path and the views from the summit may also be limited by the trees.
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Cratered Ground, Delville Wood, Longueval
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Cratered ground at Delville Wood. The shattered remains of a tree stump can be seen in the foreground of the photo. 
Delville Wood (Bois Delville), also known as Devils Wood by the British Army, was almost completely destroyed during the fighting here from mid July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. By the end of the battle in November 1916 the wood and its surrounding area looked like a moonscape, with stumps of tree remains and cratered ground.
This wood has been regrown in its original shape and is preserved as a memorial to the men who fought and died here. Most particularly the battalions of the South African Brigade are remembered at this place and it is the site of the South African Forces' National Memorial and Museum.
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Glory Hole, La Boisselle
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Cratered ground at the Glory Hole on private land at La Boisselle. 
This is a piece of ground near to Lochnagar Crater, named “The Glory Hole” on British Army maps. It was the area of the first offensive mining carried on this part of the Western Front between the French and German Armies at the turn of the year 1914/1915.
The cratered ground has been left as it was after the war. It is on private land and not accessible to the public, but the undulating ground can be seen from the bank next to the road.
A project officially launched in June 2011 aims to make an archeological and historical study of this area of ground, with the intention to provide access for visitors at some date in the future.
For more information about the project see “La Boisselle Study Group” in our Related Links section at the bottom of this page.
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Hawthorne Ridge Mine Crater
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Trees grown up around the lip of the Hawthorn Crater seen on the horizon of this photograph. 
The mine under the German Front Line position at Hawthorn Redoubt was detonated at 07.20 hours on 1st July. It was one of three huge mines and several smaller mines blown on this day at the launch of the infantry attack in the Battle of the Somme. It was the only mine exploded on the northern (left) wing of the attack front.
The huge crater formed by the explosion still forms a large hole in the landscape. However, unlike the remains of the the crater a few miles further south at Lochnagar Crater, the undergrowth has grown up around the lip of the crater. Unless there is a sign barring access to unauthorized persons, it should be possible to get to the crater by walking up the narrow track from the road leading into the north-west end of Beaumont-Hamel. Due to dense undergrowth it is only advisable to do this if the path is relatively clear and care is taken, especially when travelling alone.
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Last Tree, Delville Wood, Longueval
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The “Last Tree” is the only surviving hornbeam tree of the wood known as Delville Wood or Devils Wood during the 1914-1918 war. The wood now forms the grounds of the Memorial to the South African Forces.
The wood was smashed to bits during the battle for the wood when the German artillery pounded the South African Brigade attack starting on 15th July 1916. The tree has grown since the war and its trunk is studded with metals shell splinters.
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Lochnagar Crater, La Boisselle
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An aerial photograph of Lochnager Crater taken in the 1980s. 
The huge crater was created by the detonation of a mine under the German position at 07.28 hours on 1st July 1916. The lane leading to the crater is not a through road for vehicles, and there is a small parking and turning area for visitors to the crater. The scale of the size of the crater can be seen from the size of the houses at La Boisselle village in this photograph.
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“The Danger Tree” (Petrified Tree), Newfoundland Memorial Park, near Hamel
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“The Danger Tree”, an original tree from 1914-1918 has survived as a petrified tree on this part of the Somme battlefield. 
A petrified tree, known as “The Danger Tree”, is the only known original tree on this part of the Somme battlefield north of the Albert-Bapaume road to survive the 1914-1918 fighting. According to accounts by First World War veterans who fought in this sector, the tree was the only vertical landmark in an otherwise cratered landscape in No Mans Land approximately halfway between the British and German Front Lines. When soldiers were out on patrol to the German lines at night, veterans have said that they used the location of the tree to guide them back in the direction of their own line. The Germans knew they did this and would range their guns on the tree, making this a very dangerous place to be!
The petrified “Danger Tree” is located in the Newfoundland Memorial Park near Beaumont-Hamel.
Danger Tree: Newfoundland Memorial Park -
Preserved Trenches, Newfoundland Park Memorial, near Hamel
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Preserved trenches at Newfoundland Memorial Park. 
After the First World War the Canadian government purchased a piece of land near between the villages of Auchonvillers, Beaumont-Hamel and Hamel. This was the location where the battalion of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment went into action on 1st July 1916. At the time the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was fighting with the British Army and not with the Canadian forces.
In addition to the planting of fir trees and the setting aside of this site as a memorial, the original location of the British front line trench and reserve trenches from July 1916 were simply left. More recently the Canadian government has taken action to ensure the preservation of these trenches owing to the increasing number of visitors wanting to walk in and on these old trench lines. As a result, visitors are restricted to pathways around the trenches.
The preserved trenches are located in the Newfoundland Memorial Park between Auchonvillers and Hamel.
Newfoundland Memorial Park -
Pozières Windmill
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Site of the Pozières windmill on the west side of the Albert-Bapaume road between Pozières and Courcelette. 
The windmill at this location was used by the artillery observation officers of the German XIV Reserve Corps when they first occupied this part of the Somme battlefield in late September 1914. The windmill was eventually destroyed by June 1916 before the launch of the Allied offensive, but the remains of the foundations have been left and grass has grown over the site.
The site of the windmill is now an Australian memorial.
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Scars on the Landscape: Trench Line at Thiepval
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Location of a trench line near Thiepval, visible due to the chalky remains on the ploughed field. 
Visitors to the battlefields at certain times of the year, in the autumn, winter and spring when the fields are ploughed, will see scars on the landscape of the Somme. Chalky lines can often be seen criss-crossing the fields where trench lines were dug or large shell craters were blown below the topsoil. A trench line near to the hamlet of Thiepval can usually be seen during the winter months.
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Sheffield Memorial Park Cratered Ground
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Cratered ground preserved at Sheffield Memorial Park near Serre. 
The cratered ground at Sheffield Memorial has been left as a memorial to the men of the British Pals Battalions who fought on 1st July 1916 in the sector opposite Serre village. Hundreds were cut down, wounded or killed.
Sheffield Memorial Park -
The Sunken Lane, Beaumont Hamel
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Looking north up the Sunken Lane west of Beaumont-Hamel, the jumping-off point for two companies of the 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers at Zero Hour on 1st July. 
The Sunken Lane was a lane running in a north-south direction and situated roughly halfway between first the French, and then the British from August 1915, and the German Front Lines to the west of Beaumont Hamel until the fighting moved beyond the village in November 1916. Before the launch of the Allied offensive on 1st July the area was busy with patrolling parties going out at night from the British and German lines. According to the German regimental histories, whichever side took control of the Sunken Road during a night-time patrol, would be in the best position to dominate No Mans Land for the remainder of the patrol.
The Sunken Lane featured in the attack by the 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers on 1st July 1916. The attack by this battalion was led by two of its companies, which had gone forward of the British Front Line via a sap into the Sunken Lane. The battalions other two companies were in the British Front Line to the west of the Sunken Lane. All four companies left their positions at Zero Hour 07.30 hours on 1st July, but were cut down by a German artillery barrage onto the British Front Line trenches and by German machine gun fire from the north-west corner of Beaumont-Hamel village. Very few Lancashire Fusiliers got beyond the Sunken Lane and casualties in the battalion were over 480 by the end of the day, including over 160 killed.
The Sunken Lane can be accessed from the road (D163) into the west part of Beaumont-Hamel.
Related Links
La Boisselle Study Group
For information about the project to research and make an archeological dig at the site of the Glory Hole, go to the website at:
Battle Remains on the Western Front
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For information about the types of battlefield remains to be found on the Western Front go to our pages at:
Battlefield remains on the Western Front Battle Remains on the Ypres Salient Battlefields Battle Remains in the French Flanders and Artois BattlefieldsVisiting the Somme Battlefields
For information about places to see and where you can stay near the Somme battlefields go to our page at:
Visiting the Somme Battlefields