My first report.. I hope it's of interest to someone..
Built to house a pair of 6" guns the battery was found to be too far from deep water to usefully serve a purpose, although it must have commanded the approaches to the river at King's Lynn which was still a busy port until after the war. The guns were ultimately moved to Northumberland.
The site comprises a Battery Observation Post, two substantial gunhouses, magazine and a close-defence blockhouse (pillbox) to a non-standard design.
The three storey Battery Observation Post..
Inside the 1st floor has been removed, although the concrete upper floor is still in place, with signs that at least someone has managed to secure a rope ladder at some point in the past. The whole tower reverberates with the buzzing of bees..
The brace of gunhouses had the guns mounted directly to the roof, but these are too overgrown to detect any mountings. The first is invisible beyond the Magazine under the tangle of brambles. Only the block-like shape of the bramble patch gave it's location away. But like all the buildings it is accessible through at least one door.
Inside the Magazine is divided by a blast wall with access from both ends.
The overgrown West entrance to the first gunhouse, looking out..
At the far east end of the site, beyond the second gunhouse is a lone pillbox defending against the landward side..
The absence of defences overlooking the seaward side can perhaps be explained by the build dates of the sea wall. I'm still confirming researching when each stretch of wall was built, but it would appear that the post was built into the seawall of 1917 or 1925 and that various phases of seawall were built right up until very recently.
And now for the obligatory artistic shot of debris inside.. completely un-staged.. for some reason there are broken butterfly wings throughout all the buildings.
I've still got a few pictures to work through, mostly of the interiors. The roof construction looks interesting, some weer obviously poured on-site over corrugated iron formers, others perhaps over wood.
In general the site is in not bad condition.. it's so far out of the way that local neds wouldn't find it worth the effort. This is evidenced by the number of birds nests in the ventilation ports. There is only a little litter, none recent, and very little graffiti.
The complete site can be clearly seen on Google Earth. The Magazine is to the west, immediately to the east invisible under a tangle of brambles is the first gunhouse. The BOP can be clearly seen next to the track, with the second gunhouse just to the south-east. The close-defence blockhouse is about 50m to the south-east down the line of the track, on the south side of the track. Access is easy with a carpark just a short distance away and a public footpath adjacent.
Built to house a pair of 6" guns the battery was found to be too far from deep water to usefully serve a purpose, although it must have commanded the approaches to the river at King's Lynn which was still a busy port until after the war. The guns were ultimately moved to Northumberland.
The site comprises a Battery Observation Post, two substantial gunhouses, magazine and a close-defence blockhouse (pillbox) to a non-standard design.
The three storey Battery Observation Post..
Inside the 1st floor has been removed, although the concrete upper floor is still in place, with signs that at least someone has managed to secure a rope ladder at some point in the past. The whole tower reverberates with the buzzing of bees..
The brace of gunhouses had the guns mounted directly to the roof, but these are too overgrown to detect any mountings. The first is invisible beyond the Magazine under the tangle of brambles. Only the block-like shape of the bramble patch gave it's location away. But like all the buildings it is accessible through at least one door.
Inside the Magazine is divided by a blast wall with access from both ends.
The overgrown West entrance to the first gunhouse, looking out..
At the far east end of the site, beyond the second gunhouse is a lone pillbox defending against the landward side..
The absence of defences overlooking the seaward side can perhaps be explained by the build dates of the sea wall. I'm still confirming researching when each stretch of wall was built, but it would appear that the post was built into the seawall of 1917 or 1925 and that various phases of seawall were built right up until very recently.
And now for the obligatory artistic shot of debris inside.. completely un-staged.. for some reason there are broken butterfly wings throughout all the buildings.
I've still got a few pictures to work through, mostly of the interiors. The roof construction looks interesting, some weer obviously poured on-site over corrugated iron formers, others perhaps over wood.
In general the site is in not bad condition.. it's so far out of the way that local neds wouldn't find it worth the effort. This is evidenced by the number of birds nests in the ventilation ports. There is only a little litter, none recent, and very little graffiti.
The complete site can be clearly seen on Google Earth. The Magazine is to the west, immediately to the east invisible under a tangle of brambles is the first gunhouse. The BOP can be clearly seen next to the track, with the second gunhouse just to the south-east. The close-defence blockhouse is about 50m to the south-east down the line of the track, on the south side of the track. Access is easy with a carpark just a short distance away and a public footpath adjacent.
