Record Details

NHER Number:42182
Type of record:Monument
Name:Site of World War Two minefield

Summary

A World War Two minefield is visible as ‘earthworks’ (actually lines of disturbed ground) on aerial photographs taken in 1940. It formed part of a continuous line of defences arrayed along this stretch of coastline, recorded to the northwest as NHER 42120 and southeast as NHER 42130 for example. It overlay a freshly cut pit which may also have been of military origin, perhaps a borrow pit for sand used in constructing other defences. More recent aerial photographs indicate that craters left by the detonation and/or removal of mines still survived as earthworks in 2002.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 4762 2283
Map Sheet:TG42SE
Parish:HORSEY, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

November 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A World War Two minefield is visible as lines of disturbed ground on aerial photographs taken in 1940
(S1), (S2) and (S3), between TG 4724 2326 and TG 4799 2239. It formed part of a continuous line of defences which stretched along Horsey beach and dunes and its division as a discrete archaeological site from these other military installations is purely for the purposes of recording. The mined area continued to its northwest as part of NHER 42120 and to its southeast as NHER 42183, separated from the minefield described here by a track and the course of the Hundred Stream respectively. At TG 4762 2283 the minefield overlay a large shallow pit. This has the appearance of being a freshly excavated feature on the 1940 aerial photographs and it too may have been a product of military activity. It could have been used as a borrow pit for sand used in constructing other nearby defences, for example (compare the pit 575m to the northwest, recorded as part of NHER 42120). It could instead have been pre-war extractive pit. There are still earthworks visible at this location on the most recent consulted aerial photographs of the site, taken in 2002 (S4). Craters left by the detonation and/or removal of the mines are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken from 1945 onwards, e.g. (S5), including those taken in 2002 (S4).
S. Tremlett (NMP), 24 November 2005.

Monument Types

  • EXTRACTIVE PIT? (Unknown date)
  • PIT (Unknown date)
  • SAND PIT? (Unknown date)
  • EXTRACTIVE PIT? (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
  • MINEFIELD (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
  • PIT (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
  • SAND PIT? (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 2A/BR190 (V) 68-9 18-AUG-1940 (NMR).
<S2>Oblique Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1940. NMR TG 4722/1-3 (MSO 31022 26/BR14/15 4821-3) 19-SEP-1940.
<S3>Oblique Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1940. NMR TG 4723/1 (MSO 31022 26/BR14/15 4824) 19-SEP-1940.
<S4>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Environment Agency. 2002. EA 041 AF/02C/339 7020-2 22-JUL-2002 (EA).
<S5>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/859 3117-8 29-SEP-1945 (NMR).

Related records - none

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