NHER 34542 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two searchlight emplacement north of Honing Common

July 1946. RAF aerial photography (S1) shows a circular enclosure about 10m in diameter with entrance to south, and a less defined earthwork enclosure to north abutting. Probable searchlight position within a compound with buildings and several small structures including possible gun emplacements and pill box.
B.Cushion (NLA), 8 June 1999.

January 2007. Norfolk NMP.
The World War Two searchlight emplacement, associated huts and probable gun emplacements described above are visible as earthworks and structures on aerial photographs (S2)-(S3). The emplacement itself, centred at approximately TG 3374 2717, is visible as a penannular earthwork bank, partially surrounded by a ditch, with a possible structural element at its centre. A possible ancillary bank is visible to its north. It lies within an area of grassland (the extent of which has been mapped), which probably marks the limits of a former compound. Several huts and structures are visible along the southern and western edges of this compound; a rectangular concrete platform at TG 3374 2711 probably marks the former location of a Nissen-type hut. A possible structure at TG 3374 2713 could be the possible pillbox mentioned above, but it is not clearly visible and its interpretation must be regarded as speculative – it might simply be the undisturbed ground left within a vehicle turning circle. Probable earthwork gun emplacements are visible along the eastern side of the site, with the pedestal of a possible spigot mortar emplacement visible along the southern side (at TG 3376 2712). A mound of unknown function, but apparently of World War Two date, is visible at the site’s southeast corner. More recent aerial photographs, e.g. (S4), demonstrate that the site has since been ploughed and there is no evidence that any element of it still survives above ground.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 4 January 2007.