NHER 38634 (Monument record) - Possible site of post medieval coastal defences

Armada Defences. (S1) notes that a State Document of 1588 refers to enlarging the Sconce at Weybourne Hope, showing that one already existed, and that the Holt Parish register refers to Weybourne being fortified with sconces in 1588. The Hatfield House papers show a map with a large fort on this site, and defences running all along the edge of the marshes to Black Joy Fort somewhere in the region of Cley Eye or Blakeney Eye; the reference prefers Cley. A separate entrenchment is shown at Old Hythe (NHER 6255). But the Hatfield House map of Great Yarmouth shows defences that were never built. There may have been a fort on the Hope but can entrenchments of this length have been built and since vanished without trace?
E. Rose (NLA), 7 November 1997.

(S2) supports the view that these defences were not built in full by referring to State papers that say no fortifications were built in 1588 except for Harwich, Great Yarmouth and Tilbury. He suggests that Weybourne Sconce, Old Hythe and Blackjoy Fort were simply renovated.
E. Rose (NLA), 5 November 1998.

May 2004. Norfolk NMP.
A series of quite dilapidated channels and trenches are visible to the immediate north of the Anti-Aircraft Training Camp at Weybourne (NHER 11335) on aerial photographs. It is possible that these angular linear earthworks are the fragmentary remains of the post medieval sconces and fortifications at Weybourne Hope. The site is centred on TG 1042 4379.

The main and most obvious component of the site is a channel or trench that runs from TG 1026 4385 to TG 1083 4375, up to 6.5m wide. This earthwork has quite an angular course and is flanked by a bank fragmentary bank to the north, the longest section of which runs from TG 1048 4376 to TG 1073 4374 and again is up to 6.5m wide. A further stretch of ditch is visible to the west from TG 0983 4394 to TG 0994 4391. Centred on TG 1044 4379 are a group of possible raised area or earthwork platforms, although it is possible that they are the remains of old saltmarsh features. The line of the main channel is depicted on the 1902-7 2nd edition map (S4) and has the appearance of a creek rather than an artificial feature. It is possible that all of these ‘earthworks’ relate to former saltmarsh creeks and channels, although the main ditch in particular seems quite pronounced and too well defined and angular to be of entirely natural origin. It is possible that these fragmentary channels may be related to trenches or sconces of the Armada phase construction or renovation of fortifications, as depicted in the Hatfield House map [1].

Due to coastal erosion it is likely that the majority of any defences relating to that period have now been lost. In Peter Brook's book on the history of Weybourne (S5) the area of fields and cliff line to the north of Weybourne village is referred to as ‘Sconce and No Man's Friend Furl’ on a pre-enclosure map of the early nineteenth century. This is positioned to the immediate north of the present coastline and therefore the majority of these defences would have now been eroded away. However reference to the ‘planned’ design of the sconces, they do turn inland significantly to the west and therefore it is possible that elements of them may have survived until relatively recently. This area of coast has eroded away since the features were mapped from the 1946 aerial photographs.
(S3-7)
S. Massey (NMP), 26 May 2004.