NHER 23980 (Structure record) - Probable World War One pillbox

September 1987. Visited.
In wooded slope overlooking marshes.
Pill box, circular, concrete block.
E. Rose 6 September 1987.

24 April 1994. No change.
E. Rose (NLA).

See (S1), which adds:
Very rare World War I pillbox (type WIX) situated on edge of plantation on south side of path, 250m east of car park. Similar to type WIA, but made of coarse reinforced concrete without steel doors or shutters. Possibly early version later refined.
Survey No. C4-3.
D.Walker (NLA), July 1996.

October 2003. Visited.
Still extant but looking the worse for wear; filled with earth.
E. Rose (NLA), 22 October 2003.

May-November 2004. Norfolk Rapid Coastal Zone Archaeological Survey.
Inter-tidal survey (Environmental Zone 10), Context 996:
A World War One circular concrete pillbox was recorded at TF 96847 43945. It was built into a sloping bank on the southern edge of the saltmarsh.
See assessment report (S2) for further details.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.421).
J. Allen (NLA), 19 April 2005. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 21 July 2019.

June 2007. Still present, interior cleared out.
E. Rose (NLA), 6 June 2007.

August 2014.
The missing concrete blocks are in the creek to the north, and there are plans to clean out the pillbox and for these to be reinstated. The pill box is built on a shelf below a small cliff which is soft and eroding. However it is possible to see some earthworks on the lower shelf running from the box to the north west. These may be an associated trench system or something from WW2. It seems very likely that the pillbox was used during WW2, for training if nothing else, but this is not known for sure. It is also interesting that the pillbox is on a small promontory giving good views both ways along the coast (now the coastal path) not out to sea.
D. Gurney (HES), 1 September 2014.

22-24 September 2014. Building Survey and Excavation.
A building survey, excavation and restoration was undertaken of the pillbox by Stiffkey Local History Group, and supervised by Norfolk County Council and the National Trust. The interior of the pillbox was cleared of modern litter and excavated to below the level of the structure's foundations. The structured was constructed of only four courses of crude, preformed, curved concrete blocks. The bottom course sits on light concrete and gravel foundation, slightly wider than the blocks themselves. In places the foundations lie on patches of brick rubble and flint cobbles and gravel. The structure is capped with a 6-inch-thick circular concrete slab that shows no evidence of being reinforced. There was only a bare earth floor.

The structure has three openings: a doorway opening southward into the slope of the bank and two loopholes/apertures, facing east and west. On excavation, the doorway was seen to have corrugated iron sheeting retaining the earth to either side of the doorway on the exterior of the structure but there was no evidence to say whether this was contemporary with and original to the structure.

The majority of the finds recovered during the excavation were of modern or post-medieval date but notable finds include an unstratified early 20th century cleaning product tube; a glass Brylcreem jar from the 1950s or earlier, an early 20th century metal knife, some early 20th century domestic pottery sherds, an old penny, a possible military belt buckle/fastening, a 1942 threepence and a number of bullet cartridge casings. The bullet casings include three .303 rifle casings dating between 1933 and 1943.

The excavation uncovered no evidence to conclusively date the construction of the pillbox to either the First or Second World Wars. The construction of the pillbox is inconsistent with other pillboxes of either date, and the finds recovered could only confirm that the structure was likely in use during the Second World War. Early interpretations therefore concluded that it was constructed during the Second World War as part of the light artillery training camp immedieately to the north (NHER 127747) - See Website (S3). However, reputable oral testimony collected by Stiffkey Local History Group suggests that the pillbox was in existence during the 1920s - See Unpublished Report (S4) and Correspondence (S5) and (S6).

Findings of the survey and excavation also lead to questions surround the use of the structure. The lack of height of the structure, a maximum of 50 inches (127cm), would make it difficult and uncomfortable to use as a pillbox. The loopholes also look along the land/coast rather than out to sea. Was it an observation post instead? On balance it is still interpreted as a pillbox.

Restoration of the pillbox consisted of the replacement of several concrete blocks around a loophole after their recovery from a nearby creek.

See Unpublished Report (S4), Correspondence (S5), (S6), (S7) and (S8), Newspaper Articles (S9), (S10), and (S11), Photographs (S12) and Unpublished Document (S13).
A. Beckham (HES), 13 June 2022.