Record Details
NHER Number: | 53491 |
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Type of record: | Monument |
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Name: | Site of probable World War Two searchlight battery or bomb craters |
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Summary
The site of a possible World War Two searchlight battery is visible as earthworks, cropmarks and soilmarks on aerial photographs. Only one principal emplacement is visible, with a smaller emplacement to its north. None of the other trappings typical of such sites, such as tracks and rest huts, etc., are evident, although by the time that the photographs were taken in 1946, the site had clearly been out of use for at least one season of ploughing. The site is unusual in that it is located only 1.5km to the east of what was probably a second searchlight battery (although described as a gun emplacement; NHER 33831), the earthworks of which were still unploughed in 1946. Whether this larger site replaced that described here, or whether the interpretation of the site is wrong (it might instead represent bomb craters or gun emplacements) is not known.
Images - none
Location
Grid Reference: | TG 1054 0771 |
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Map Sheet: | TG10NW |
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Parish: | BARFORD, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
April 2010. Norfolk NMP.
The site of a possible World War Two searchlight battery is visible as earthworks, cropmarks and soilmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), centred at TG 1054 0771. Only one principal emplacement is visible, with a smaller emplacement to its north; a third possible pit-like feature visible on the same alignment further to the north (at approximately TG 1053 0775) cannot be distinguished from the shadow cast and ‘disturbance’ caused by an adjacent tree. None of the other trappings typical of searchlight sites, such as tracks and rest huts, etc., are evident, although by the time that the photographs were taken in 1946, the site had clearly been out of use for at least one season of ploughing. It is also possible that small, presumably agricultural, structures depicted approximately 85m to the west on the Ordnance Survey 2nd edition 25 inch map (S3) were utilised, although there is no clear evidence of this. The site is unusual in that it is located only 1.5km to the east of what was probably a second searchlight battery (although described as a gun emplacement; NHER 33831), the earthworks of which were still unploughed in 1946. Whether this larger site replaced the one described here, or whether the interpretation of this site is wrong (it might instead represent bomb craters or gun emplacements) is not known.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 22 April 2010.
Monument Types
- BOMB CRATER? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- GUN EMPLACEMENT? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- SEARCHLIGHT BATTERY? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
<S1> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 3G/TUD/UK/52 5124 31-JAN-1946 (NMR). |
<S2> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1606 6091-2 27-JUN-1946 (NMR). |
<S3> | Map: Ordnance Survey. 1902-7. Ordnance Survey second edition 25 inch (1902-7) map. 25 inches to 1 mile. |
Related records
33831 | Related to: World War Two military site (Monument) |