Record Details

NHER Number:35403
Type of record:Monument
Name:Royal Observer Corps Post

Summary

Three successive Royal Observer Corps Posts were constructed at this site between the 1930s and 1950s. The earliest Observer Corps post, which opened in 1934, is visible on World War Two aerial photographs. The second post at the site was constructed in 1953 and comprised an octagonal brick tower, the base of which remains visible. An underground monitoring post was constructed in 1959 and closed in 1968. No evidence of this third post survives at the site.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 50601 11647
Map Sheet:TG51SW
Parish:WEST CAISTER, GREAT YARMOUTH, NORFOLK

Full description

Royal observer corps post.
Opened June 1959, closed October 1968.
No traces remain but a small brick octagonal floor is probably an aircraft observation post of earlier date.
See (S1).
E. Rose (NLA) July 2000.

August 2005. Norfolk NMP.
Observer Corps posts dating from the 1930s and later are visible on World War Two and later aerial photographs (S2) to (S4). The central grid reference for this site has been amended from TG 50605 11645 to TG 5061 1165. A total of three successive observer corps posts were present at this site and all are visible on aerial photographs of different dates. Only the earliest of the three posts dates from before 1945 and this was the only one mapped from aerial photographs by the Norfolk National Mapping Programme. The earliest post was opened in 1934 and was constructed from railway sleepers (S5). It was post T/4 of No. 16 Group (Norwich) Observer Corps. This post is visible on World War Two aerial photographs as a rectangular structure measuring approximately 7m by 4m (S2). One half was enclosed and covered by a flat roof with the other half being open and containing a circular structure that was probably the plotting table. A second rectangular structure, measuring just over 4m square, was located 10m to the east of the post. On 1946 aerial photographs this post is partly obscured by vegetation and is not clearly visible (S3). The second Royal Observer Corps post at the site was constructed in 1953 on the site of the first post and comprised of an octagonal brick tower (S4-5). A contemporary photograph of this post is published in (S5). The underground post was constructed in 1959 approximately 10m to the north of the brick post (S4-5).
J. Albone (NMP), 4 August 2005

Monument Types

  • ROYAL OBSERVER CORPS SITE (Mid 20th Century - 1934 AD to 1953 AD)
  • ROYAL OBSERVER CORPS SITE (Mid 20th Century to Unknown - 1953 AD)
  • ROYAL OBSERVER CORPS MONITORING POST (Mid 20th Century to Late 20th Century - 1959 AD to 1968 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>Article in Serial: Catford, N.. 1999. Royal Observer Corps Underground Posts in Norfolk.. Norfolk Industrial Archaeology Society Journal. Vol 6, no 4, pp 59-70. pp 59ff.
<S2>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1944. RAF 106G/LA/21 4001-2 04-JUL-1944 (NMR).
<S3>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1634 5036 09-JUL-1946 (NHER TG 5112C).
<S4>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1970. OS/70315 057-058 11-SEP-1970.
<S5>Publication: Tooke, C.. 2004. West Caister. pp 33-34.

Related records - none

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