NHER 27638 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two defences and military installations

September 2005. Norfolk NMP.
Evidence of World War Two military activity is visible on aerial photographs (S1to 6), centred at TG 5296 0549. The various earthworks, structures and buildings visible are part of an extremely extensive zone of military activity which extended across the entire South Denes area, probably reflecting not only its strategic location and the necessary use of waste ground but also the proximity of a naval base at the Royal Naval Hospital approximately 500m to the north (NHER 4340). The site comprises various defences and other military features scattered across a large area of the South Denes. These surround more discrete contemporary installations, such as a barrage balloon site (NHER 27363), which have been individually recorded.

At the southern end of the site a line of barbed wire crossed through a naval barrage balloon depot (NHER 27640). At the eastern end of the depot, a slightly raised track lead away to the east, flanked by barbed wire on each side. The southern line of barbed wire appears to have been removed between 1940 and 1941 (S1 and 2); the track could be pre War in origin. A line of barbed wire running southeastwards from the end of the track was also removed during this period. At the same time a slit trench was excavated close to South Beach Parade, at TG 5312 0528. By 1944 (S3 and 4) this had been backfilled or become overgrown and the defences and installations described here had been separated from activity being carried out to the south by a line of anti tank scaffolding or barbed wire (part of NHER 43323). An isolated fragment of similar material at TG 5313 0525 was probably part of the same defensive scheme. Two probable weapons pits (at TG 5310 0527 and TG 5307 0524) and a probable spigot mortar emplacement (at TG 5304 0523) are also visible by this date.

There are signs of disturbed ground within the block of land centred at TG 5308 0535 on photographs taken during the early years of the war (S1 and 2). By 1944 (S2 and 3) vehicles were parked on it (perhaps as part of the phoney invasion preparations known as ‘Operation Fortitude’). Perhaps also by this date, but only clearly visible on later aerial photographs (e.g. S5), pits had been dug along the west side of the block of land, perhaps as part of a military training exercise (their extent has been mapped). Paved areas visible on 1945 aerial photographs (S6) could relate to the wartime use of the site, but could equally be associated with its pre War (probably industrial) use and consequently have not been mapped. The block of land to the northwest, centred at TG 5298 0544, was partially occupied by a group of pits by 1944 (S3 and 4), the extent of which has been mapped. These clustered around the former Nelson Hotel, shown on the Ordnance Survey 2nd edition map (S7), and were also probably excavated as a military training exercise. At the Nelson Monument itself (NHER 4302) a small square building visible immediately to its west on aerial photographs taken in 1945 (S5 and 6) has the appearance of being a military structure although its function is not known. Structures visible to the west (at TG 5292 0547) in 1944 are similarly enigmatic. To the north, on the block of land centred at TG 5296 0554, parked vehicles are again visible during 1944 (S3 and 4).

To the northeast, at TG 5306 0567, a line of three pits is visible; the northernmost had been excavated by 2 March 1944 (S3); the remaining two were excavated later that year. Their late date and close proximity suggests that they may again be products of military training activity. At the northeastern corner of the site, a small rectangular building is visible by September 1940 (S1) at TG 5308 0580. This might have been a pillbox or perhaps a guard post controlling access into the site from the north. A spigot mortar emplacement stood 13m to its southwest (at TG 5307 0578). These two features were separated from the rest of the site, and from the probable ambulance station to their west (NHER 27644) by a zigzag line of barbed wire erected between 1941 and 1944 (S2- and 3).

Relatively little is visible along the northern side of the site, although vehicles are visible parked across much of this area on aerial photographs taken in 1944 (e.g. S4). At TG 5279 0566, a small building with traversed entrances could be a surface air raid shelter but whether for military personnel or for workers in the nearby industrial buildings is not known. The western side of the site is dominated by a line of barbed wire laid out along the quayside, and forming a compound at TG 5274 0549. Various structures and buildings are visible along the quayside and in most cases it is difficult to distinguish between military structures and those related to pre War or non military wartime activity. Only those structures most likely to have a military origin have been mapped but even for these their function remains unknown.

Most of the structures and other military features described above had been or were being removed by 1945 (S5 and 6). There is no evidence on modern aerial photographs that any element of the World War Two site now survives above ground.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 26 September 2005.