NHER 42296 (Monument) - World War Two air raid shelters on Bell’s Marsh Road, West Quay, Gorleston on Sea

January 2006. Norfolk NMP.
A group of World War Two air raid shelters is visible on aerial photographs Bell’s Marsh Road, West Quay, Gorleston (S1). The site includes four small shelters, probably Anderson shelters, within back gardens, and a possible larger communal shelter, perhaps serving the military posted at the nearby defensive positions along the quayside. The site is centred on TG 5284 0421, although this point does not correspond to an archaeological feature on the ground.

The four domestic air raid shelters are visible as earth covered mounds, approximately 2m across and up to 3m long and are probably all Anderson shelters. These are located in the rear gardens of numbers 68, 70, 72 and 74 Bell’s Marsh Road.

At TG 5286 0425 is a possible large shelter, although this is not certain, as all is visible on the ground on the aerial photographs is an elongated slot, 13m by 1.5m, cut into the ground in 1945, surrounded by an extremely low oblong banked area. This feature is not clearly visible on earlier aerial photographs, although this may be due to the superior quality and lower height of the 1945 aerial photographs, which allow the identification of much slighter features, potentially obscured by shadow on the other aerial photographs. The slot cut into the ground has the appearance of the entrances to other large communal shelters in Gorleston, such as NHER 42285. The shelter is located within a possible area of bomb damaged buildings, NHER 42295.
S. Massey (NMP), 09 January 2006.