NHER 53637 (Monument record) - Site of probable slit trenches of World War One or World War Two date

June 2010. Norfolk NMP.
Probable slit or practice trenches of either/between World War One and World War Two date are visible as soilmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S4), centred at TG 2068 0905. The marks are poorly defined but an irregular crenellated pattern is discernable, suggesting a World War One date (compare those in Eaton Park, NHER 53591, which are similarly visible decades after they were first dug), although trenches with this pattern are not unusual on World War Two military training sites. It is possible that the trenches were excavated wholly or largely as a training exercise, perhaps associated with the Norwich Institution (formerly Norwich Workhouse, NHER 26575) immediately to their east; at Great Yarmouth, there is similar evidence of training activity at the Union Workhouse (now Northgate Hospital, NHER 10549). Alternatively, their location adjacent to principal roads and a substantial road junction may reflect a strategic purpose related to the defence of the city in the event of an invasion. There is a small chance that the marks are instead the product of agricultural activity, but this seems unlikely given that they are visible over a number of years. Only the extent of the trenches has been mapped.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 11 June 2010.