NHER 53252 (Monument record) - Site of possible World War Two railblock on the Norfolk Railway

November 2009. Norfolk NMP.
A possible World War Two railblock is evident as a group of structures visible on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), centred at TG 2023 0512. It was positioned along the Norfolk Railway (NHER 13571; also known as the Norwich and Brandon Railway, NMR TG 20 NW LINEAR 1085), in a strategic location to the west of a rail bridge crossing Low Road, which connects Cringleford to Keswick. If its interpretation as a defensive structures is correct, it was one of several railblocks located along this railway line, with a particular concentration in this area to the south of Norwich, where the numerous rail bridges crossing the rivers and low-lying ground were presumably of strategic significance; others nearby include NHER 53251 340m to the east. Many of the other railway lines leading to and from Norwich were equipped with similar defences (for example NHER 52494 on the Ipswich to Norwich or Norwich to Diss Railway, NHER 13578, 2.5km to the east). However, in the case of the site described here, the structures are co-located with a level crossing (see historic and modern Ordnance Survey maps), and it is not clear to what extent they relate to this non-military feature of the railway, rather than representing a World War Two defence.
The possible railblock appears to have consisted of a single row of sockets spanning the railway line into which anti-tank rails or similar obstacles could be inserted (only the possible sockets are visible; they have been mapped as ‘Extent of Area’). A single concrete block, possibly with some kind of additional element or structure on its upper side, lies at the southern end of this row. This makes the site relatively insubstantial compared to others in the vicinity (compare NHER 53251), which could reflect a non-military function or origin relating to the level crossing. It is not known whether any element of the site still survives today.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 30 November 2009.