NHER 29464 (Monument record) - Cropmarks of World War Two searchlight battery, on Linger Hill

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Summary

Aerial photographs from 1946 onwards show the cropmarks of a World War Two searchlight station at this location. Two concrete structures which may relate to pillboxes or other related buildings are also visible until at least 1950.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TL99SE
Civil Parish SHROPHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Map

15 June 1989. NAU aerial photography.
Cropmark of World War Two searchlight station.
Also visible on RAF 1946 aerial photograph (Unit ref TL 99/K & copyneg print ref TL 9791 E/HC37).
M. Flitcroft (NLA) 1993.

See record form in file by source [1], who adds:
World War Two searchlight battery. Cropmarks revealed at TL 9730 9212. Concrete remains at TL 9725 9190. Demolished in 1950s.
Survey No. Q2-2.
D. Walker (NLA) July 1996.

October 2012. Norfolk NMP.
The centre of the site has been amended from TL 9730 9194 to TL 9726 9196 as a result of the NMP mapping.
Cropmarks of a searchlight battery are indeed visible on aerial photographs (S2-S7) in the diagnostic form of three conjoined circular features. The site itself is visible from 1944 (S1). At least two concrete structures are also extant on the photographs until at least 1950 (S6), sited at TL 9730 9184 and 9735 9186. It seems possible that at least one of these structures is a pillbox shape, although this is difficult to ascertain from the photographs. Two extents of area which seem to encompass all the related structures have been mapped, one containing the two possible pillbox structures centred on TL 9734 9185, and a second at the northwest corner of the site, centred on TL 9712 9209. Parchmarks in the latter area suggest former structures, but none of them were clear enough to map.
Cropmarks of tracks or roadways leading across the site have also been mapped.
E. Ford (NMP), 18 October 2012.

February 2026. HER Enhancement: Forestry Commission Project K.
The cropmarks of the above searchlight battery (centred at approximately TL 9726 9196) are visible on aerial photographs from 2025 (S8).
J. Powell (Norfolk County Council Environment Service), 19 February 2026

  • --- Aerial Photograph: TL9791 A-D,E.
  • --- Secondary File: Secondary File.
  • --- Slide: Various. Slide.
  • <S1> Vertical Aerial Photograph: USAAF. 1944. US 7PH/GP/LOC 276 5041-2 18-APR-1944 (NMR).
  • <S2> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. NHER TL9791 E (RAF 1946) 09-MAR-1946.
  • <S3> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 3G/TUD/UK/101 6218-9 30-MAR-1946 (NMR).
  • <S4> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1634 2372-3 09-JUL-1946 (NMR).
  • <S5> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1947. RAF CPE/UK/1918 3175-6 09-JAN-1947 (NMR).
  • <S6> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1950. RAF 540/432 5094-5 11-OCT-1950 (NMR).
  • <S7> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D. NLA. 1989. NHER TL9791 F-K (NLA 223/DHN7-11) 15-JUN-1989.
  • <S8> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Bluesky International Ltd and Getmapping Plc. unknown. Aerial Photography for Great Britain (APGB) Orthophotographs. https://www.apgb.co.uk. Bluesky International Ltd APGB Imagery TL9791 12-MAY-2025.

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Record last edited

Feb 19 2026 12:11PM

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