NHER 53251 (Monument record) - World War Two railblock on the Norfolk Railway

November 2009. Norfolk NMP.
A World War Two railblock is evident as a group of structures visible on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), centred at TG 2057 0519. 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 the River Yare. It was one of several railblocks located along this railway line, and there appears to have been 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 52497 660m to the east and NHER 53252 340m to the west. 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, 2.2km to the east).
The railblock appears to have consisted of possibly four lines of sockets spanning the railway line into which anti-tank rails or similar obstacles could be inserted (only the sockets are visible and have been mapped as ‘Extent of Area’). At their eastern end the railway is flanked by several concrete blocks, three along its south side and one to its north, presumably to incorporate the angle created by the bridge/river. There is also a line of disturbed ground (not mapped) extending along the south side of the track to the west of the railblock, visible both in 1942 and 1945 (S1)-(S2); this has no obvious defensive function but might relate to the railblock’s construction. It is not known whether any element of the site still survives today.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 30 November 2009.