NHER 5236 (Building record) - Ludham Bridge Drainage Mill, World War Two pillbox and spigot mortar base

Drainage mill north of Ludham Bridge. Derelict, brick tower only survives, with cog for turning cap.
E. Rose (NAU), 23 August 1975.

Converted to pill box in World War Two with gun post outside. Information from Pillbox survey.

Very interesting two-storeyed pill box with gun slits made in side.
Blast wall by door. Gun post is in fact a concrete mortar spigot.
E. Rose (NAU), 1 September 1983.

6 July 1994. NLA air photography.
Tower of mill intact and visible.
M. Brennand (NLA), 13 March 2001.

This small brick tower mill is believed to have been constructed in 1877 (S1). It supported the drainage mill (NHER 8455) located to the south of the bridge which, until then, was draining the marshes above and below the bridge. It was one of the few Broads' mills that had clockwise turning sails. By 1906 (S2), it had been adapted to discharge directly into the river. It is known to have worked during the 1912 floods but later postcards show that it suffered severe gale damage which left it with a broken windshaft. A photograph taken in 1934 (S3) shows that the derelict remains had been adapted into a lookout which was then converted into a pill box during the war.
A. Yardy (HES), 9 August 2011.

Photographs from 1983 (S4) and 1994 (S5) showing loopholes and spigot mortar base added to file.
A. Yardy (HES), 13 September 2012.