Hello There! My partner and I spent a few days away in North Norfolk. We visited the South Beach at Heacham and found two pill boxes guarding the exit from the beach.
After taking a few photos and doing a search on the internet, I found that these were two pill boxes, a type 28 and a type 28a.
The Pill Box Study Group has the type mentioned here.
There are other defences at the beaches of Brancaster, Holme and Weybourne.
The Type 28a is unusual in that it has been modified so that there are separate entrances to the anti-tank gun chamber and infantry chamber.
According to this link, here. one of the bunkers is used as storage and the other is sealed. There are photos on the internet of the inside of these defences but on the day they were inaccessable.
One had a base for a spigot mortar, but these bunkers were intended to have a 2 pdr anti tank gun, which was not always available! The spigot mortar base was was right next to the bunker but there appeared to be little cover for the base or crew.
The planking marks used as shuttering was still clearly visible.
The type 28 is in the foreground, near the entrance of the car park, while the Type 28a is in the distance.
The Type 28a is unusual in that it has been modified so that there are separate entrances to the anti-tank gun chamber and infantry chamber.
There was a small ditch between the beach and the defences and in each corner of the bridge that spanned it were four anti tank blocks to stop tanks crossing the bridge. One has a slot cut in it but I do not know if that is contemporary with the defences or had been cut at a later date.
I have found one reference saying that this allowed a rail barrier to be put in place.
A pleasant discovery of some of the County's war time heritage.
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