Monument record HLY 115 - Two World War II gun emplacements.

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Summary

Two 6" World War Two gun emplacements thought to be a beach defence battery manned by the 10/1 super heavy Regt.

Location

Grid reference Centred TM 3519 4531 (79m by 101m)
Map sheet TM34NE
Civil Parish HOLLESLEY, SUFFOLK COASTAL, SUFFOLK

Map

Type and Period (3)

Full Description

Two 6" gun emplacements thought to be a beach defence battery manned by the 10/1 super heavy Regt (S1).

Each gun emplacement contains its own sunken command post / crew shelter and ammunition lockers as well as lockers in the gun pit itself. The first reference for the emplacements is from 1941, manned by a detachment from 10 / 1st Super Heavy Regt. The task of the guns was to enfilade the beaches and cover the entrance to the Deben Estuary. Both gun positions are also overgrown to some extent, one much more than the other (S2).

Two substantial gun positions in Hollesley Common, with the Holdfasts for Naval 4" Mark 3 QF guns. Each emplacement is rectangular and contains solidly built crew-shelters and magazines, sunk into the ground with blast walls. The holdfast is at one end with an oddly shaped cutout in the apron. The positions are end on to each other, suggesting the guns would have fired broadside (S3).

October 2015. Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty National Mapping Programme.
The gun emplacements described above are visible on aerial photographs (S4)-(S8) and have a further circular structure added to them by 1962 (S6). It is likely that this site was the field artillery site on Hollesley Common classified as ‘Det 1 Super Hvy Regt, 2 - 6 inch Naval guns’, depicted in (S9), which made up part of the ‘coastal crust’ field artillery defensive sites. Three other sites have been recognised in this area which may potentially belong to this field artillery group (SHER HLY 142, SUT 244 and SUT 245). The gunhouses have been recorded as still surviving in part (S6, p.30)
Another possible gun battery has been recorded to the east as SHER HLY 133.
E. Ford (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 28th October 2015.

Sources/Archives (9)

  • <S1> Digital archive: June 2012. List of sites recorded by Pillbox Study Group. Site ID: e27287.
  • <S2> Digital archive: http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/. http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?p=223882.
  • <S3> Bibliographic reference: Osborne, M. with Kerr, A. G.. 2008. 20th Century Defences in Britain. Suffolk. p. 30.
  • <S4> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Vertical aerial photograph. RAF/106G/UK/929 RS 4413-4414 16-OCT-1945 (EHA Original Print).
  • <S5> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Vertical aerial photograph. RAF/58/76 V 5007-5008 27-JUL-1948 (EHA Original Print).
  • <S6> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Vertical aerial photograph. RAF/543/1883 F21 0193-0194 27-SEP-1962 (EHA Original Print).
  • <S7> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Vertical aerial photograph. CUCAP RC8D107-108 26-APR-1968 (Original Print).
  • <S8> LIDAR Airborne Survey: LIDAR airborne survey. LIDAR TM3545 Environment Agency 2m DTM 30-NOV-2010.
  • <S9> Bibliographic reference: Liddiard, R. and Sims, D.. 2015. A Guide to Second World War Archaeology in Suffolk. Guide 3: Orford to Felixstowe. 3 vols. Fig. 32, p.25.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Jun 29 2020 1:02PM

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