Two First World War Pillboxes on Bradfield Common

Summary

Two rare First World War pillboxes of concrete block construction, part of a group that formed a "stop line" against potential enemy invaders along the River Ant and Dilham and North Walsham canal. They were constructed between 1916 and 1918.

Reasons for Designation

The two pillboxes at Bradfield Common are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as two well-preserved examples of First World War pillboxes with additional interest for their unusual method of concrete block construction;

* they contain original doors and gun loop shutters that illustrate the functioning of the buildings.

Historic interest:

* as good surviving examples of First World War pillboxes with intact layouts.

Group value:

* they form part of an important group of First World War pillboxes of the same design and construction which formed a stop line at bridging points on the River Ant and Dilham and North Walsham Canal, which have a strong functional relationship with each other.

History

Despite the emerging deadlock between German and allied forces in Belgium and northern France British military planners planned to counter the threat of a possible seaborne attack on the UK mainland and in 1916 it was estimated that a landing might be made with as a many as 160,000 troops on the vulnerable east coast. To counter the threat of a German landing on the beaches of north Norfolk coastal defences were constructed from 1916, some of the first to be built in the country and backed up by a series of defended points inland of the coastal towns and a stop line along the River Ant and the section which formed the North Walsham and Dilham Canal. This utilised the northern part of the river/canal to defend the area between Barton Broad at the northern edge of the Norfolk Broads and Bradfield, the closest point on the river to the defences along the coast to the south of Cromer. A series of pillboxes were constructed at eight bridging points on the river/canal from 1916 with work to the north Norfolk defences continuing until 1918.  

The pair of pillboxes at Bradfield Common are situated to the west of where Common Road crosses Bradfield Beck, a tributary of the River Ant/North Walsham and Dilham Canal. They are positioned either side of the road and were shown on a military map of 1918 which marked the other fixed defences along the river/canal and so may have been part of the stop line system. The northern of the two pillboxes at Bradfield is adjacent to land managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

Details

Two pillboxes constructed between 1916 and 1918.  

MATERIALS: concrete block walls with concrete roof slab on steel beams and steel door and gun loop shutters. 


PLAN: circular with one entrance to a single internal space.  

INTERIOR: the northern pillbox is a single open-plan space with un-rendered blockwork walls and roof painted white. The gun loops all have steel frames and one retains the central sliding shutter section with a ring for securing it. The doors have a bolt on the inside attached to them. There are two holes in the roof which might have held ventilation pipes.  

EXTERIOR: the pillbox to the north of Common Road is situated close to the road. The pillbox is circular with concrete block walls roughly pointed and topped by blocks with curved outer faces set around the roof slab. The roof slab is a single piece of cast concrete. There are five gun loops set roughly equally around the pillbox with one close to the a low, narrow doorway facing south which has its original steel double doors with a bolt and hasp attached to the outside. 

The pillbox to the south of Common Road it largely hidden in vegetation but from a recent photograph appears to be similar in construction and detail to the northern pillbox.

Sources

Books and journals
Bird, C, Silent Sentinels: The Story of Norfolk's Fixed Defences in the Twentieth Century (1999),
Kent, P, Fortifications of East Anglia (1988), 185-87
Storey, N R, Norfolk Goes to War (2014), 46

Websites
Great War Britain Norfolk 1914-18 blog: Norfolk roundhouses of the great war, accessed 24 August 2022 from https://stevesmith1944.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/norfolk-roundhouses-of-the-great-war/
Norfolk Heritage Explorer , accessed 25 Augsut 2022 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF32557-World-War-One-pillbox&Index=2&RecordCount=1&SessionID=6da70b73-24e3-430c-8f1b-595db43461eb
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, accessed 25 August 2022 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF32556-World-War-One-pillbox&Index=2&RecordCount=1&SessionID=234ded0a-8c87-4d7f-b28c-dc89ba5684ab
Defences of Britain, accessed 26 August 2022 from https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/dob/ai_r.cfm

End of official list entry