NHER 53396 (Monument record) - Five dispersed World War Two defences/spigot mortar emplacements related to Snetterton Airfield 9068

February 2010. Norfolk NMP.
Five dispersed World War Two defences/spigot mortar emplacements to the west of Snetterton Airfield (NHER 9068) are visible on aerial photographs (S1) as open earthworks.
They are centred on TL 9979 8990. Each defence consists of a pit feature approximately 7m by 6m in diameter which presumably would have contained a concrete ‘thimble’ and ammunition lockers to each side. The upcast spoil forms a bank around each of the pits, up to 6m in width in some places.
Snetterton airfield was clearly quite heavily defended during World War Two, with further possible spigot mortar defences visible to the north (NHER 53398) and east of the airfield (NHER 53397), and two Light Anti Aircraft batteries (NHER 53399) and a gun emplacement (NHER 29961) also recorded here.
E. Bales (NMP), 10 February 2010.

February 2026. HER Enhancement: Forestry Commission Project K.
One of the above dispersed World War Two defences/spigot mortar emplacements (centred at approximately TL 9940 8988) appears to survive as a low earthwork visible on visualised lidar data from a survey flown in 2018. Further work such as field visits would be required to confirm the feature survival.
J. Powell (Norfolk County Council Environment Service), 04 February 2026