NHER 53452 (Monument record) - World War Two military training site

March 2010. Norfolk NMP.
The site of a World War Two military training area is visible on aerial photographs on Thorpe Great Heath (S1-S3). The site is centred on TL 8854 8963 and is located adjacent to East Wretham Airfield (NHER 5742). The site consists of several groups and areas of weapons pits and practice fieldworks. The main concentration of earthworks is located within the southern portion of the site, including an arc of four large angular pits, centred on TG 8861 8913, which could feasibly represent training for the construction of anti-aircraft sites, and a linear spread of large pits running from TL 8814 8962 to TL 8840 8942. In 1944-5 a series of regularly spaced circular, light-coloured marks, with no discernable height (S1-S2), are visible along the length of the road running across the heath. This has some similarities with the placing of lights to create a dummy airstrip; however the positioning of such a site within extremely close proximity to an airfield would be unlikely and the purpose of these features is unknown.
S. Horlock (NMP), 12 March 2010.