NHER 18220 (Structure record) - Second World War anti tank bunker (Type 28 pillbox)

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Summary

A rare anti tank bunker (a Type 28 pillbox) has been recorded by field surveys as a surviving structure at this location. It was visited in 2004 and found to be overgrown with vegetation. It has been suggested to be one of only five surviving examples of such structures in Norfolk.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TF74SE
Civil Parish BRANCASTER, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Map

Gun emplacement. World War Two.
Concrete circular chamber set in bank with wide gun slits. First noted by Pillbox Survey.
Grid reference by E. Rose (NAU), 30 June 1982.

See (S1) in file which adds:
Type 28 anti tank bunker. Rare in Norfolk - only five remaining in total. North facing, buried in west side of bank. Date 1940.
Survey No. C1-5.
D. Walker (NLA), July 1996.

May-November 2004. Norfolk Rapid Coastal Zone Archaeological Survey.
Inter-tidal survey (Environmental Zone 8), Context 745:
A structure recorded as a Second World War type 22 pillbox was monitored at TF 77043 44339. It is built into modern sea bank (Context 810, NHER 26777), to west of Brancaster Beach Road.
See assessment report (S2) for further details.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.421).
J. Allen (NLA), 15 April 2005. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2019.

October 2005.
The Norfolk Rapid Coastal Survey recorded this structure as a pillbox. At the time it was overgrown with vegetation and difficult to see - only the very top was visible. This site lay just beyond the boundary of the search polygon submitted to NHER by the survey team. As a result, when it was visited the survey team did not have NHER data about it. The limited visibility and lack of data seem to have lead to a misinterpretation. It is more likely to be a bunker than a pillbox.
D. Robertson (NLA), 6 October 2005.

April 2020. National Mapping Programme (NMP) Data Clean-Up.
The Second World War Type 28 pillbox described above (also referred to as an anti-tank bunker) was visible as a rectangular structure on aerial photographs. It was mapped in 2004 as part of the Norfolk Coastal Zone NMP project, but was omitted from the recording. The specific photographs it was mapped from are not known. The pillbox/bunker is still visible as an extant structure on recent aerial photographs (S3).
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council, Historic Environment Service), 29 April 2020.

  • --- Photograph: Kent, P.. 1994. KHE 33.
  • --- Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
  • --- Secondary File: Secondary File.
  • <S1> Recording Form: [various]. Norfolk Defensive Structures Survey Recording Form. Norfolk Defensive Structures Survey.
  • <S2> Unpublished Contractor Report: Robertson, D., Crawley, P., Barker, A., and Whitmore, S. 2005. Norfolk Rapid Coastal Zone Archaeological Survey. Assessment Report and Updated Project Design. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 1045.
  • <S3> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Various. Vertical Aerial Photograph. EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 27-SEP-2018 ACCESSED 29-APR-2020.

Object Types (0)

Related NHER Records (0)

Record last edited

Apr 12 2023 10:04AM

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