North Denes Emergency Coastal Battery |
| Hob Uid: 1485025 | |
Location :
Norfolk
Great Yarmouth
Non Civil Parish
|
| Grid Ref : TG5310010400 |
| Summary : North Denes coastal battery, an emergency battery built during the Second World War as part of Eastern Command's coastal defences. It was constructed between late 1940 to early 1941 and mounted two 6-inch ex-naval guns. The guns were reduced to care and maintenance by September 1944. The battery comprised two emplacements located at TG 5314 1039 and TG 5314 1034, which were joined by an underground walkway and chamber/store. Possible coast artillery searchlights were positioned at TG 5314 1023 and TG 5311 1065. Defences at the battery included barbed wire obstructions, two hexagonal pillboxes, slit trenches, Spigot mortar emplacements and a light anti-aircraft emplacement. The gun emplacements and the majority of defences had been demolished by 1952. The ancillary buildings were removed by the late 1980s, however an L-shaped structure located at TG 5309 1044 possibly dates to the Second World War. |
More information : North Denes (Yarmouth) coastal battery located at TG 531 104. This was an emergency battery built during the Second World War as part of Eastern Command's coastal defences. It was armed with two 6-inch ex-naval guns and manned by 325 Coast Battery Royal Artillery. The guns were reduced to care and maintenance by September 1944. The battery is referenced as being manned by the Home Guard between 1943 to 1944. (1)
Aerial photography from 1981 shows well-preserved examples of ancillary buildings surviving at the site. The emplacements and smaller ancillary buildings have been removed, and the remaining structures used as part of a holiday camp. A set of rectilinear ancillary buildings (five large, one slightly smaller) are located at TG 5308 1016 in a north-to-south alignment. A second group of buildings stand at TG 5310 1034. These latter buildings have retained three of five original buildings, again in a north-to-south alignment. The remaining two buildings may survive underneath the newer roofing that is now there. (2)
The emergency coastal battery was centred at TG 5311 1036. Aerial photography from 18-AUG-1940 shows the battery under construction. The two 6-inch gun emplacements were located at TG 5314 1039 and TG 5314 1034 and joined by an underground walkway and chambers/stores. Possible coast artillery searchlights were positioned at TG 5314 1023 and TG 5311 1065, which appear as structures on aerial photography. The battery was completed by February 1941. Defences at the battery included barbed wire defences, two hexagonal pillboxes, slit trenches, Spigot mortar emplacements and a light anti-aircraft emplacement. The gun emplacements had been demolished by 1952 and the majority of pillboxes and other defences removed. By 1988 the row of six ancillary buildings [mentioned in source above] had been demolished and only the northernmost of these (an ablutions block) still survives. A second row of buildings between TG 5309 1030 and TG 5310 1037 were extant in 1988, but had been demolished by 2002. A further, L-shaped structure located at TG 5309 1044 is still extant at the southern end of a new range of buildings, however this could be a new build based on the original WW2 building's ground plan. (3) |