NHER 27359 (Monument record) - World War Two air raid shelter

May 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A World War Two air raid shelter is visible as an earth covered structure on aerial photographs (S1) and (S2), centred at TG 5232 0782. Its size and location suggest that it was a purpose built public shelter, constructed to provide protection for the civilian population living in the surrounding narrow, terraced streets. Historic maps, e.g. (S3) and a pre World War Two aerial photograph (S4) indicate that this area had been occupied with buildings. It was relatively open land in 1944 (when the shelter is first visible) and may have already been subjected to bomb damage and subsequent clearance, thereby providing space for the shelter to be built. More recent aerial photographs and modern maps indicate that the area has now been levelled and at least partially built over. It was reportedly expanded and converted into a nuclear bunker in 1963 (information from Ken Hamilton, NLA).

The shelter consists of a roughly rectangular, semi sunken, earth covered structure, with a revetted entrance at one end of each of its long sides. Four concrete structures on its roof may mark ventilation shafts or emergency exits. A semi sunken concrete structure approximately 6.5m to its west may be an ancillary shelter or building, such as a warden's post or an observation post.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 13 May 2005.