Monument record SOL 031 - Site of World War Two military training area, probably related to Herringfleet military camp

September 2013. Lothingland, Lowestoft and North Suffolk Coast and Heaths National Mapping Programme.
A World War Two military training site is visible as a collection of huts and other structures, together with earthworks and tracks, on aerial photographs taken in 1944 (S1-S3). Most of the structures and huts are centred at TM 4681 9843. This is one of three military training sites in this area (see SOL 030, MSX27212, and SOL 032, MSX27214). They all probably relate to Herringfleet military camp, which was a D-day tank school (S4). In common with SOL 032 (MSX27214) to its northeast, there is no evidence of activity at this particular site until after March 1944 (compare S1 and S5), and it appears to have been relatively short-lived, with most structures removed and the site overgrown by October 1945 (S6). Quite what was taking place at the site is unclear. Only its extent and the clearest structures and features have been mapped. Particularly noteworthy are four evenly spaced areas (mapped by extent), cleared of vegetation and each occupied by a cluster of small, indistinct features, arranged along a track around the southeastern perimeter of the site, with a large rectangular trench a short distance to their north; the purpose of this group of features is unclear. More recent photography suggests that most features at the site appear have probably been destroyed, but it is possible that some remnants still survive above ground.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 11th September 2013.