NHER 42462 (Monument record) - A group of World War Two air raid shelters on England’s Lane Industrial Estate, Gorleston-on-Sea

January 2006. Norfolk NMP.
A group of World War Two air raid shelters are visible on aerial photographs on England’s Lane Industrial Estate, Gorleston-on-Sea (S1)-(S2). The site consists of at least one sub-surface shelter and fourteen surface shelters of varying shapes and sizes. These shelters are placed in the yards of a series of industrial buildings and are probably intended for workers and local inhabitants of the area. This group of shelters is located to the immediate west of another group of shelters (NHER 42290), although the two sites appear to be separated from one another and have different entrances. The site is centred on TG 5269 0402.

At least one, possibly two, sub-surface shelters can be identified on the aerial photographs. At TG 5267 0398 an entrance cut into the ground is visible. This is located to the immediate southwest of a newly laid rectangular concrete surface measuring 15.5m by 5m. It is assumed that this is the top of a sub-surface shelter reached from the entrance. To the east of this is a square of different coloured concrete, approximately 1m across. It seems likely that this is either an emergency exit of loosely bonded material or an air vent. To the immediate south of this is a surface shelter measuring 4.5m by 14m. A second small square is located to the west and this is near to another angular newly laid area of concrete, centred on TG 5271 0397. The main rectangular area of this measures 10m by 6.5m. Although no entrance could be identified, it must be assumed that this is a second large underground air raid shelter. It is possible that the entrance is located within the surface structures that are located adjacent to it. This part of the site consists of two conjoined concrete-roofed structures, the largest of which measures 8m by 4.5m. The rest of the shelters are all surface structures and the majority of them are between 4-5m long and around 2m wide and have a concrete roof, although it is possible that the walls were brick built. There are also two larger shelters, both approximately 13m by 5.5m, located at TG 5267 0403 and TG 5271 0404.
S. Massey (NMP), 26 January 2006.