Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

Full description

St Nicholas Hospital or Royal Naval Hospital.
1809 to 1811 by Holl or Pilkington. Barracks 1818 to 1854. Greenhouse about 1890. Burials of former inhabitants found. Cropmarks of formal garden (S1)-(S2). World War Two gun positions.
See file for full details..
E. Rose (NLA), 21 October 1994.

And for further details see (S3). Main block Grade II*; former mortuary chapel, entrance range, isolation wing and railings each Grade II.
E. Rose (NLA), 22 March 1999.

March 2006. Norfolk NMP.
NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 5285 0640 to TG 5284 0642.

Buildings and structures, associated with the use during World War Two of the Royal Naval Hospital described above, are visible on aerial photographs (S4)-(S8). During this period the hospital was evacuated and it became a Naval information centre and administrative quarters, known, like other Naval shore-based establishments, as HMS Watchful (S9). From 1942 this included an artillery plotting room, where the fire of the coastal batteries could be co-ordinated (S10). Associated sites included a large, communal air raid shelter located at St James’ School (since demolished), in an area which appears to have originally been part of the hospital site; the shelter has been recorded individually as NHER 27374. Military installations on the recreation ground immediately to the east of the hospital (NHER 43375) may also have been under Naval control. At the hospital itself, the World War Two structures were not always easily distinguishable from pre-war buildings. Those that have been mapped by the NMP are visible on aerial photographs taken from 1944 onwards, but absent from those taken in 1941 (S11), indicating a World War Two date for their construction.

A particular feature of the site during World War Two were the numerous air raid shelters, some of which were also used as defence posts, located mainly along the perimeter wall. Three of these survived until relatively recently (these were the ‘gun positions’ described above; see (S12)-(S14)), but have now been demolished (S15). In 1944-5, five of the rectangular or rectilinear structures were visible along the east side of the site and three along the west, with a ninth positioned to the south of the main courtyard (at TG 5288 0630). A tenth structure visible to the north (at TG 5286 0649), lay outside of the main hospital grounds but was so similar to the other shelters that it must have been a comparable structure. Another notable development at the site during World War Two was the creation of what appears to have been a new (or at least enlarged) entrance through the western perimeter wall (at approximately TG 5276 0638). This was flanked by two square buildings, which are clearly visible on oblique aerial photographs taken in 1948 (S7)-(S8). Immediately to the south was a small building or structure which abutted the wall, and a large, curved profile hut (perhaps a Nissen hut). To the south of the courtyard (at TG 5283 0631) were a flat-roofed rectangular structure, probably another hut, and two small unidentified structures. To the north of the courtyard, a building or hut is visible at TG 5278 0646, and another probable defensive structure, perhaps an air raid shelter with a blast wall, stood at TG 5286 0648. Towards the northeast corner of the site, a camouflaged or earth-covered structure at TG 5290 0655 may also have been an air raid shelter, again equipped with a blast wall. A small building adjacent to the north gate (at TG 5284 0657) was probably a guardpost, but it may have been in place by 1941 (11) and its World War Two date is uncertain. It is apparent from recent aerial photographs of the area, and from previous site visits and bibliographic sources, that none of the mapped structures and buildings have survived intact to the present day.

In addition to the World War Two features described above, a number of garden features are visible as cropmarks within the hospital grounds. These appear to fit the plan of the hospital as depicted on the Ordnance Survey 2nd edition 25 inch map (S16), for example, and are presumably of 19th or 20th century date. These have not been mapped due to their relatively late date, and to the difficulty of distinguishing former planting schemes from those still in periodic use. They include the cropmarks described above, which are visible on oblique aerial photographs taken in 1979-80 (S1)-(S2). The marks visible on these photographs surrounding the former greenhouse at the centre of the courtyard reflect the planting scheme and paths in use during 1945 (S5). The elongated globular mark visible to the southwest (at TG 5282 0637) was also visible in 1945, but as a cropmark or parchmark rather than an extant bed. The mark to the north (at TG 5284 0642), which is also visible as a cropmark on the 1945 photographs, seems to have been restored as a bed by June 1947 (S17). Further to the north (at TG 5283 0651) two anchor designs are visible either side of the drive leading to the north gate, (S5) and (S18).
S. Tremlett (NMP), 13 March 2006.

Article - 1997, missing from file [J. Yates, 2 December 2010].

Monument Types

• BARRACKS (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
• GARDEN (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
• GARDEN FEATURE (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
• GLASSHOUSE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• HOSPITAL (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
• INHUMATION (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• ROYAL NAVAL HOSPITAL (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
• AIR RAID SHELTER (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• BLAST WALL (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• GUARDHOUSE (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• HUT (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• MILITARY BASE (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• MILITARY BUILDING (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• NISSEN HUT? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• ROYAL NAVY SHORE ESTABLISHMENT (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• STRUCTURE (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

• Listed Building
• Listed Building
• Listed Building
• Listed Building
• Listed Building

Sources and further reading

Related records