Record Details
| NHER Number: | 27276 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | World War Two defences |
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Summary
World War Two defences, including a slit trench, earthwork and concrete emplacements and barbed wire, are visible as extant earthworks and structures on aerial photographs. They are arranged along the cliff top and cliff base at Scratby, stretching from a larger military site to their north (NHER 18359) for approximately 235m southwards. (The line of defences is continued southwards by NHER 27277, 27274 and 37598). They were presumably sited to overlook the beach and to inhibit an enemy landing. The earliest elements of the site are visible in 1940, the latest in 1944. By September 1945 most of the features appear to have been removed or levelled but traces remained visible until at least 1953.
Images - none
Location
Full description
March 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A group of World War Two defences are visible as earthworks and structures on aerial photographs (S1-6), from TG 5134 1576 to TG 5144 1555. The earliest elements, visible in August 1940 (S1), comprise two concrete structures, probably gun emplacements, sited at the base of the cliff (at TG 5142 1562). These were protected on their seaward side by a line of barbed wire or beach scaffolding (NHER 27278). By December 1940 a small, circular earthwork is visible at the top of the cliff (at TG 5140 1562). This is not clearly visible until 1945 (S5) but it may mark the site of a camouflaged, semi-sunken pillbox or similar structure; traces of concrete are visible here on aerial photographs taken in 1953 (S6). By February 1941 (S3) a slit trench had been excavated to the north (at TG 5136 1569) and an earthwork emplacement, presumably for a gun, thrown up to the south (at TG 5141 1556). The latter appears to have been levelled by May 1944 (S4), by which time a line of barbed wire had been erected along the cliff top. Later aerial photographs (e.g. S5-6) show that the remaining features were levelled and/or removed soon after the end of the war, although traces of some elements may remain.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 17 March 2005.
(S7) reproduces a photograph of 1951 showing the gun mounting intact on one of the concrete structures.
E. Rose (NLA), 2 February 2007.
Monument Types
- BARBED WIRE OBSTRUCTION (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- GUN EMPLACEMENT (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- MOUND (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- PILLBOX? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- SLIT TRENCH (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| <S1> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1940. RAF 2A/BR190 V47-8 18-AUG-1940 (NMR). |
| <S2> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1940. RAF 268A/BR183 9-10 17-DEC-1940 (NMR). |
| <S3> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1941. RAF 268F/BR172 (VA) 42-3 10-FEB-1941 (NMR). |
| <S4> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1944. RAF 106G/LA/17 3010-1 28-MAY-1944 (NMR). |
| <S5> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/832 3189-90 23-SEP-1945 (NHER TG 5015D, TG 5015A). |
| <S6> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1953. RAF 540/1005 0120-1 04-FEB-1953 (NMR). |
| <S7> | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1982. Old coastguard. 30 June. |
Related records - none
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