NHER 43479 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two air raid shelters on Exmouth Road

May 2006. Norfolk NMP.
Six probable air raid shelters dating to World War Two are visible as earthworks and structures on aerial photographs (S1), between TG 5262 0646 and TG 5262 0639. They lay in the gardens of 91, 92, 93, 97, 106 and 109 Exmouth Road. This location, together with their small size, suggests that they were private shelters, intended for the use of these particular households. They may have been Anderson shelters, or similar proprietary designs. Most are visible as earthwork mounds, which probably covered small semi-sunken or surface-level structures. The shelter at Number 92 appears to have a structural element at its west end; this probably protected an entrance. The shelters at Number 106 and 109 appear to be bare structures; these could have been Anderson shelters without their usual covering of earth. It should be noted that the area was partially obscured by shadow on the consulted aerial photographs, and that consequently the interpretation of some of the shelters is uncertain (they may instead have been outbuildings, for example). Similarly, further shelters may have stood in other gardens along this terrace but nothing was clear enough to warrant mapping by the NMP. None of the mapped shelters are visible on recent aerial photographs of the area, e.g. (S2), and they have presumably been levelled.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 9 May 2006.