Record Details
| NHER Number: | 34190 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | World War Two heavy anti aircraft battery and associated domestic site |
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Summary
Four Heavy Anti-Aircraft guns of unknown type were located in square concrete emplacements at the western end of the site. These were arranged in an arc around a command post building. The domestic site associated with the battery in the form of a concentration of Nissen-type huts was located within a wooded area at the eastern end of the site. The anti-aircraft battery structures were demolished by 1961.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2700 0602 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG20NE |
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| Parish: | KIRBY BEDON, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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| SOUTH NORFOLK |
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Full description
June 1946.
RAF aerial photograph (S1) show a group of three circular structures in an arc, with a rectangular structure to the south. Circular structures probably anti aircraft battery site, as outlines have entrance facing towards centre, and a small circular base in centre.
B. Cushion (NLA), 12 February 1999.
April 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The anti-aircraft battery described above is visible on aerial photographs (S2)-(S8). The gun emplacements have been placed in a semi-circular arrangement centred on TG 2683 0612. This pattern would indicate the presence of a heavy anti-aircraft artillery battery (HAA) (S10), and the associated command post building that would normally be positioned within the centre of the arc of guns is visible at this central grid reference, measuring 11m by 5m.
Three of the four circular gun emplacements are visible with a surrounding blast wall and ammunition lockers, at TG 2685 0614, TG 2682 0615 and TG 2681 0613, but the fourth, centred at TG2679 0610, appears to have only partial walls either side of the central circular gun emplacement.
A concentration of 14 Nissen-type huts in a wooded area approximately 60m to the east, centred on TG 2708 0616, appears to be the accommodation for the site. Most of these structures measured approximately 11m by 5m, and appear to represent domestic buildings. A further Nissen-type hut, at TG 2694 0596, which also measures 11m by 5m, appears to be related to the site, as does a smaller (5m x 5.5m) structure, at TG 2689 0584, 240m to the south of the main HAA site.
The Heavy Anti-aircraft battery structures were still visible until 1956 (S8), but were demolished by 1961(S9).
E. Bales (NMP), 7 April 2009.
Monument Types
- ANTI AIRCRAFT BATTERY (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- COMMAND POST (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- MILITARY BUILDING (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- MILITARY CAMP (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- NISSEN HUT (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| <S2> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/884 6010-11 03-OCT-1945 (NMR). |
| <S3> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1143 5011-2 29-JAN-1946 (NMR). |
| <S4> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 3G/TUD/UK/70 5172-3 part II 28-FEB-1946 (NMR). |
| <S5> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 3G/TUD/UK/70 part III 5217-8 28-FEB-1946 (NMR). |
| <S6> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1606 6057-8 27-JUN-1946 (NMR). |
| <S7> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1947. RAF CPE/UK/2063 6350 14-MAY-1947 (NMR). |
| <S8> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1956. RAF 540/1778 (F22) 0081-2 16-JAN-1956 (NMR). |
| <S9> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: Meridian Airmaps Limited. 1961. MAL 61500 7440-1 30-AUG-1961 (NMR). |
| <S10> | Article in Monograph: 1995. 20th Century Defences in Britain.. Council for British Archaeology Handbook 12. p 48. |
Related records - none
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