Record Details
| NHER Number: | 32925 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | World War Two searchlight battery |
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Summary
In 1997 the farmer who owned the land here identified the site of a World War Two searchlight battery. 1946 RAF aerial photographs show a concrete pad and service road, which suggests that a mobile battery was probably situated here.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TL 9836 9434 |
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| Map Sheet: | TL99SE |
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| Parish: | SHROPHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
1997. Tenant farmer indicated site of former searchlight battery at summit of knoll.
RAF air photographs show concrete pad approximately 20m x 20m, with concrete road leading from track to the southwest. Possibly used by mobile battery.
B. Cushion (NLA) September 1997.
2001-2003. Excavations.
Area excavations revealed evidence for the plarform of a searchlight bettery at the apex of the field. The ground had been levelled at this point, and cobbles recovered from an extraction pit to the west had been used as hardcore for the platform. Remains of what was likely the base of a short length of concrete track orientated north-south was also observed. Connected to the track on the east were two short east-west ditches spaced 10m apart, backfilled with 20th century debris. These ditches likely enclosed the area of the concrete platform for the searchlight.
Information from (S2).
H. Hamilton (NLA), 26 March 2008.
November 2012. Norfolk NMP.
The concrete platform described above is clearly visible on aerial photographs (S3-S4),and the centre of the site has been altered from TL 9835 9433 to TL 9837 9437 as a result of the NMP mapping. The platform measures approximately 21m by 21m, and a concrete path is visible running away from it to the south west corner of the field. A mobile battery site seems a likely explanation for the site, although there is no direct evidence of this from the available aerial photographs.
E. Ford (NMP), 20 November 2012.
Monument Types
- SEARCHLIGHT BATTERY (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| <S1> | Aerial Photograph: TL 99/TL 9893/A. |
| <S2> | Unpublished Document: NAU Archaeology. 2007. NAU Archaeology. An Iron Age Settlement at Shropham, Norfolk. Draft Archive Report.. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. |
| <S3> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 3G/TUD/UK/101 6183-4 30-MAR-1946 (NMR). |
| <S4> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1634 5371-2 09-JUL-1946 (NMR). |
Related records - none
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