Record Details
| NHER Number: | 53202 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Site of World War Two railblock |
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Summary
A World War Two railblock is evident as a group of structures visible on aerial photographs along the line of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (NHER 13584). The railblock was sited strategically on the east side of a rail bridge crossing the River Wensum, close to a road bridge also crossing the river which was protected by its own road block (NHER 53201). It was one of several such railblocks established during this period on the railway lines surrounding Norwich; others are known elsewhere on this same line (for example, NHER 42682 at Cromer, on the north Norfolk coast, and the four anti-tank blocks recorded approximately 570m northwestwards along the line at Hellesdon, NHER 13584). It is not known whether any element of the site still survives today.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 1995 0997 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG10NE |
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| Parish: | NORWICH, NORWICH, NORFOLK |
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Full description
February 2010. Norfolk NMP.
A World War Two railblock is evident as a group of structures visible on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 1995 0997. It was positioned along the line of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (NHER 13584; also known as the Norwich and Cromer Railway, NMR TG 20 NW LINEAR 1779), in a strategic position on the east side of a rail bridge crossing the River Wensum. (A road bridge 120m to the northwest was protected by its own road block, NHER 53202.) The rail block was one of numerous such wartime defences positioned along the railways leading to and from Norwich. Only clearly visible on photographs taken in 1945, it appears to have consisted solely of lines of sockets set into the track bed, into which vertical rails or similar obstacles could be placed in the event of an invasion. No trace of the block could be seen on more recent aerial photographs.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 4 February 2010.
Monument Types
- ANTI TANK OBSTACLE (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- ANTI TANK VERTICAL RAIL? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- RAILBLOCK (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- TANK TRAP (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| <S1> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/770 6360-1 06-SEP-1945 (NMR). |
Related records
| 13584 | Part of: Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (Norwich to Cromer via Holt), North Norfolk Railway (Monument) |
| 42682 | Related to: World War Two tank trap (Monument) |