Record Details
| NHER Number: | 39147 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Site of World War Two coastal defence features |
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Summary
A World War Two coastal defence site is visible as earthworks and structures on aerial photographs taken in 1940. It included slit trenches and probable gun emplacements dug into the cliff face. The location and relatively small scale of the site suggest that it was probably an anti invasion defence and was sited to impede a beach landing. It is appears to have been destroyed by 1946, probably by coastal erosion.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2976 3793 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG23NE |
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| Parish: | GIMINGHAM, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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| MUNDESLEY, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
December 2004. Norfolk NMP.
A World War Two coastal defence site is visible as earthworks and structures on aerial photographs (S1 to S2), centred at TG 2977 3793. The relatively small scale of the site and an absence of large emplacements suggests that it might have been sited to enfilade the beach in the case of an invasion. Alternatively, it might be an ancillary part of the coastal defence battery (NHER 39148) sited less than 100m to the southeast. The site lies on either side of a 'spur' of earth which projects out from the face of the cliff.
The site consists of a number of elements, some of which are only just visible on the consulted aerial photographs and were not clear enough to map as individual features. At TG 2979 3791 a line of three possible gun emplacements are visible next to a track (not mapped) which leads from the cliff top to the beach. Below them is a relatively tall, unidentified structure which might be an observation post or another emplacement. On the west side of the 'spur', a further gun emplacement is visible at TG 2976 3793 and another at TG 2974 3795. Below these is a slit trench which follows a zigzag pattern, surrounded by what are probably further emplacements, trenches and possibly barbed wire. It should be noted that due to inadequate control points, many of the features were sketched from unrectified parts of the photographs.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 21 December 2004.
Monument Types
- BARBED WIRE OBSTRUCTION? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- BEACH DEFENCE BATTERY? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- GUN EMPLACEMENT (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- SLIT TRENCH (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- STRUCTURE (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| <S1> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1940. RAF 2/BR186 3-4 05-SEP-1940 (NMR). |
| <S2> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1940. NMR TG 2937/1-2 (MSO 31020 26/BR14/12 4886-7) 19-SEP-1940. |
Related records - none
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