NHER 27451 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two anti aircraft battery

July 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A World War Two Light Anti Aircraft Battery is visible as a group of earthworks, structures and buildings on aerial photographs (S1) to (S4), centred at TG 5225 0906. The site comprises a variety of different elements, many of which are similar to those seen at other Light Anti Aircraft Battery sites identified at Great Yarmouth (e.g. NHER 19084).

The gun emplacement is visible as an embanked rectilinear structure at TG 5223 0908. On some photographs (e.g. S2) an indistinct shape can be seen within it; this is probably the gun but it is not clear enough to identify the type. To the north a group of three curved profile huts (Nissen huts or similar prefabricated structures) is visible. These probably provided accommodation for the battery crew. To the south (at TG 5226 0903) is another hut or rectangular structure; to its west (at TG 5223 0904) is a rectilinear area of paving with a structure on it (clearest on S2) and an adjacent circle of paving with a structure at its centre. The function of these structures is not known but they are presumably associated with the military site.

Paved trackways connect the various elements of the site, and include a curious loop at TG 5227 0909. Two concrete 'mounds' surmounted by structures at TG 5226 0910 and a polygonal concrete 'pedestal' at TG 5222 0906 could be ancillary ground defences such as spigot mortar emplacements or anti-tank blocks. A gate across the entrance combines with pre-existing land boundaries to define the limits of the site, which is cut across by a fence.

Some further structures visible on the photographs may be associated with the military use of the site but these are impossible to distinguish from the remains of the tar factory marked on historic Ordnance Survey maps (e.g. S5) and consequently have not been mapped. Conversely, some of the mapped features may not be military in origin.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 14 July 2005.