NHER 53424 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two bomb craters

February 2010. Norfolk NMP.
Up to two World War Two bomb craters are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S3), centred at TG 2167 0967. That to the southeast (centred at TG 2170 0965) is only visible on photographs taken in 1942 (S1), and could represent some other type of feature or form of disturbance. It may be significant that an archaeological evaluation undertaken in this area (NHER 41648) did not identify any physical evidence of bomb damage (S4). That to the northeast (centred at TG 2164 0968) is visible on later aerial photographs as well, and it can therefore be interpreted with greater certainty. Both craters have been mapped schematically, to provide an indication of their location and size, rather than to record the precise detail of their outline or of any ‘halo’ of surrounding upcast.
Heigham was badly affected by the so-called ‘Baedeker raids’ of 27-30 April 1942 (S5), and it was almost certainly these that were responsible for the craters. Further bomb damage is visible in the surrounding area (but not mapped by the NMP), including damage to St Bartholomew’s Church (NHER 437) 40m to the north and to an industrial building 40m to the southwest (NHER 42820). The latter is recorded as the site of a bomb landing on a City Engineers Map (S5) and is clearly in a state of partial demolition in 1945 (S2).
The area has now been built over and no traces of the craters are evident on recent aerial photographs of the area.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 18 February 2010.