NHER 43784 (Monument record) - Big Wood / America Wood World War Two bomb store

June 2006. Norfolk NMP
A World War Two bomb storage facility is visible on 1946 aerial photographs (S1). This site was centred on TM 3120 9031. A group of structures and piles of stores are visible on a clearing at the southern edge of America Wood and a network of concrete roads are present in Big Wood at Earsham. These relate to a USAAF bomb store, which was part of a larger complex that had its headquarters at Earsham Hall (NHER 41375) (S2). This site was one of several that were located in woodlands around the hall and along roads in the area. The majority of this site of concealed by trees making its full extent difficult to gauge. However, the layout of the concrete roads in Big Wood, which are still marked on the 1:10000 Ordnance Survey map, is similar to those at the related bomb stores in Sexton Wood (NHER 41372) and Beech Wood (NHER 41374), suggesting that it also contained storage areas. The name America Wood does not relate to the use of the site by the USAAF as might be assumed. The northern part of the wood was shown with this name on the first edition 6 inch to the mile Ordnance Survey map (S3) that dates to around 1887-1891.
J. Albone (NMP), 19 June 2006