NHER 42244 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two air raid shelters and a possible weapons pit

December 2005. Norfolk NMP.
World War Two air raid shelters are visible on aerial photographs from 1945 in the back gardens of properties on Beccles Road, Gorleston (S1 to S2). The site is centred on TG 5159 0475. This group represents a higher density of shelters than the surrounding area, although see NHER 42243 for a larger cluster. These shelters may have been for domestic use by the inhabitants of the properties, although their close proximity to an anti aircraft battery (NHER 32667) and a variety of defences, including road blocks (NHER 42245 and 42251) could indicate a military involvement in the shelters. It is possible that the properties had been evacuated and were being used by military personnel. Another explanation of the high density of shelters when compared with the surroundings areas is that the street has been allocated more money/materials for shelter construction due to the proximity of the battery and therefore the possible increased threat of attack.

Four of the shelters (310, 314, 316 and 318 Beccles Road) are visible as an extant earthen covered, oblong and rectangular mounds and are probably all Andersons or similar designs, ranging from 2m to 4m in length, all approximately 2 to 3m wide. The shelter in what was the garden of 312 Beccles Road, now ‘Sonlea’ Claydon Grove, is much larger, measuring 8m by 4m. This has a recessed entrance to the south, covered by a blast wall, and an emergency hatch and/or vent at the rear. It is not immediately clear from the aerial photographs whether any components of these structures still survive, although this seems unlikely in most cases. In the rear of 322 Beccles Road is a oblong cut feature, which is not visible until August 1944 (S2). Given its close proximity to the pillbox (NHER 42245) it is possible that this excavation relates to military activity and could possibly be a weapons pit. It is also possible that it is the exposed sub surface remains of a previously camouflaged air raid shelter.
S. Massey (NMP), 19 December 2005.