NHER 43589 (Monument record) - Probable World War Two bomb crater at Gas Distribution Station, Southtown

May 2006. Norfolk NMP.
A probable World War Two bomb crater is visible as a partially backfilled earthwork on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), centred at TG 5234 0576. It is visible as a large, circular crater, almost entirely filled by earth or similar material (but depicted on the NMP mapping as a cut feature). A secondary crater (or ramp?) on its northeast side remains open. Although the interpretation of the feature as a bomb crater seems the most probable, it could instead be a pond or other unidentified modern feature. It is first visible on aerial photographs taken in March 1944 (S1) but the fact that it was already largely backfilled by this date suggests that it had been created some months earlier. The upper surface of the backfill still has a fresh appearance on these photographs, indicating that it must have been deposited fairly recently. The site lay on the western edge of Southtown and Great Yarmouth, and the intended target for the bomb could have been a military installation, an industrial site, or one of the town’s transport links. It is evident from modern aerial photographs, e.g. (S3), and Ordnance Survey maps that the site has since been resurfaced and the surrounding area built over. The crater may have been levelled, and/or may correspond with a circular base or cover visible on aerial photographs (S3).
S. Tremlett (NMP), 2 May 2006.