NHER 44956 (Monument record) - Site of a World War Two military petrol storage depot

August 2006. Norfolk NMP
A World War Two military fuel depot and railway siding is visible on aerial photographs (S1-S4). This fuel depot was centred on TM 3726 9180 to the south of the Ellingham to Geldeston road. The site comprised four circular storage tanks each with a diameter of 12m. These were located within separate bund protected enclosures on the southwest side of the site. To the north of the main tanks was a further small unbunded circular tank with a diameter of 9m. The northeastern half of the site was occupied by a group of buildings arranged around an open yard. A row of four petrol pumps or similar filling points were present across the centre of the yard. One of the buildings on the western side of the site was linked to the main fuel tanks and the pumps by a network of pipes. A small rectangular structure was also present to the north of the main road. It had doors at each end and may have been a surface air raid shelter associated with the site. A further building, possibly with a curved profile, was located to the north of the road towards the western end of the railway siding. The site was connected by rail to the ports of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft and had its own railway siding to the north of the main road. The siding appears to have formed a complete loop off of the Waveney Line, but was partly disused by 1945 (S1). This was a military fuel depot for the storage of petrol and aviation fuel prior to its distribution by road to USAAF airfields in the vicinity. It occupies a surprisingly open location compared to the USAAF bomb stores around Earsham Hall (NHER 41375) further along the same railway line. No camouflage is visible on the storage tanks or buildings, although netting could have been removed by October 1945 (S1). The site is briefly mentioned in the wartime reminiscences of a local civilian (S5). The storage tanks and buildings were still present at the site in July 1977 (S3-4). The railway siding, and the line itself, had been completely removed by this date. By 1988 the main storage tanks had been removed and the site converted into a grain store with new silos (S6). It appears from the modern Ordnance Survey map that three of the original buildings may survive at the site.
J. Albone (NMP), 17 August 2006

August 2006. Norfolk NMP
A site visit confirmed the existence of four World War Two buildings at the site. A rectangular hut is located parallel to the main road. It has a sectional construction with an asbestos pitched roof. Although it appears to have had some post-war alterations this is similar to a Ministry of Works standard hut. A second hut of this type is positioned end on to the road at the western side of the site. Both of these huts are still in use as offices at the grain store. A brick building with a pitched roof and three large doors fronting onto the road is present on the eastern side of the site. This is similar to vehicle sheds found on airfields and was probably used as a garage for petrol tankers. An electricity sub station, apparently also an original feature of the site, is present to the east of the vehicle shed. Original concrete surfaces survive along the road frontage to the site. To the north of the road is a rectangular brick building with a flat concrete roof and doors at each end. This appears to be an air raid shelter which was boarded up at the time of the visit.
J. Albone (NMP), 30 August 2006