NHER 42494 (Monument record) - A World War Two type 22 pillbox and weapons pits on the Coast Road

February 2006. Norfolk NMP.
A World War Two type 22 pillbox and a group of weapons pits are visible on aerial photographs on the Coast Road, Hopton-On-Sea (S1-S2). This site would have been part of the perimeter defences associated with the World War Two Radar Station on the Hopton-on-Sea and Corton Parish boundaries (Suffolk SMR -COR 043/XS19097). The 1930’s holiday camps in this area were heavily used by the military for accommodation and training sites (NHER 42486-7, 42491 and 42496) so it is possible that the cluster of weapons pits are related to this training activity. The site is centred on TM 5322 9923.

The pillbox is located at the side of the Coast Road at TM 5320 9921 and is a hexagonal type 22, with blast wall. This pillbox was been demolished by April 1947 (S3). The group of weapons pits are centred on TM 5323 9925 and are visible in August 1944 as a small cluster of freshly dug elongated pits and slit trenches dug into the field.
S. Massey (NMP), 02 February 2006.