Record Details
| NHER Number: | 42095 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Possible World War Two bomb crater |
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Summary
A pit, reminiscent of a bomb crater but of unknown date and function, is visible as a cropmark and soilmark on aerial photographs. The roughly circular pit, which is surrounded by a bank, is first visible on aerial photographs taken in 1944. A second possible cropmark which is very similar in appearance is visible 52m to its south. This was (and continues to be) overlain by a hedge in 1944 indicating that if the two pits were contemporary they cannot have been created by bombs during World War Two, unlike other nearby craters (e.g. NHER 42051 400m to the northeast). They might instead have been created during a World War One bombing raid or have been extraction or agricultural pits or ponds of some kind.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 4595 2322 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG42SE |
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| Parish: | HORSEY, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
October 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A pit is visible as a cropmark and soilmark on aerial photographs (S1), (S2) and (S3), centred at TG 4595 2326. A second possible pit, which is very similar in appearance, is visible on the 1944 aerial photographs (S1) 52m to its south (at TG 4597 2319). The cropmarks may also correspond with marks visible on aerial photographs taken in 1943 (S4). They are both reminiscent of bomb craters but the southernmost pit was overlain by a hedge in 1944 suggesting that unlike most craters visible on 1940s aerial photographs it could not have been created during World War Two. Alternatively, they might have been created by a World War One bombing raid, or they could be extraction or agricultural pits or ponds of some kind. If the latter interpretation is correct, they probably date to no later than the first decades of the 19th century as the hedge which crosses the southernmost pit marks a boundary shown on Horsey Enclosure Map of 1816 (S4). Another possibility is that the southern cropmark is the product of recent agricultural activity rather than the presence of a pit, or that its apparent similarity to the northern pit is coincidence rather than a reflection of their similar date. If is the case, the northern pit could date to World War Two.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 19 October 2005.
Monument Types
- BANK (EARTHWORK) (Unknown date)
- PIT (Unknown date)
- POND? (Unknown date)
- BOMB CRATER? (World War One - 1914 AD? to 1918 AD?)
- BOMB CRATER? (World War Two - 1939 AD? to 1945 AD?)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| <S1> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: USAAF. 1944. US/7PH/GP/LOC298 5021 20-APR-1944 (NMR). |
| <S2> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/832 3200-1 23-SEP-1945 (NMR). |
| <S3> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1955. RAF 82/1214 (F21) 0337-8 06-JUN-1955 (NMR). |
| <S4> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1943. RAF AC/161 5148 04-JAN-1943 (NMR). |
| <S5> | Map: 1816. Horsey Enclosure Map (NRO MC 1752/2). |
Related records - none
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