NHER 43594 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two air raid shelters at 46 Common Road; 3, 15, 23 and 25 Harfrey’s Road; and 20, 24, 34, 48, 50, 64 and 66 Suffolk Road, Gorleston

April 2006. Norfolk NMP.
Twelve probable air raid shelters dating to World War Two are visible as earthworks and structures on aerial photographs (S1), centred around TG 5220 0543. They lay in the back gardens of 46 Common Road; 3, 15, 23 and 25 Harfrey’s Road; and 20, 24, 34, 48, 50, 64 and 66 Suffolk Road, Gorleston-on-Sea. This location, together with their small size, suggests that they were private shelters, intended for the use of these particular households. Some may have been Anderson shelters, or similar proprietary designs. Most are visible as earthwork mounds, which presumably covered small semi-sunken or surface-level structures. Part of an underlying structure is visible at the east end of the shelter at 66 Suffolk Road, above what was probably the shelter’s entrance. Four shelters are visible as small rectangular structures, which can be distinguished from normal outbuildings by their curved profile. These may have been Anderson shelters without their usual covering of earth. The shelters at 46 Common Road and 25 Harfrey’s Road appear to have had façades that were wider and taller than the main body of the shelter; this is a feature typical of Anderson shelters. The shelters are not visible on recent aerial photographs of the area, e.g. (S2), and have almost certainly been levelled or otherwise removed.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 28 April 2006.