Report - Winterton-on-Sea ROC Post, Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk, 20th March 2022

[The_Construct]

The Explore

Out for a walk with the wife and baby today, strolling from Hemsby to Winterton-on-Sea. As usual, on the lookout for odd buildings or pieces of concrete that look out of place. Sure enough on the return journey along the sand dunes, I made my excuses and took my leave, heading for a few old concrete 'military looking' fence posts on the top of the dunes that peaked by interest.

I found the remains of a concrete structure which I now know to be an orlit and just beyond that were the fence posts minus the wire fencing. Within the posts were the remains of the Winterton-on-Sea ROC post.

Inaccessible and capped off with concrete, looking a bit worse for ware but all surface structures are visible. Further research shows it was built in 1962 and closed in 1968.

Short and sweet, but to me, no holiday has been fully realised unless I find a bunker or ROC post.

The Photos

The compound from outside the fence boundary. Photos online from around 10 years ago show that the wire fence was more intact:

A closer view from within the compound, surface artefacts visible, albeit worse for wear:

Another view looking inland, with Holy Trinity & All Saints Church in Winterton-on-Sea visible in the background:

Another view looking sea ward:

A wider shot of the compound:

 

[Mikeymutt]

I remember coming across this years ago going to see the seals. It was sealed off then. There is type 28 pillbox a bit further up. They sealed that up as well. I think because it was used so much to pee in and rubbish dumped in it. And seals went inside so prob sealed for there safety.

 

[bob_ross_5522]

does ROC refer to Royal Observer Corps ? what is ROC, is this pillboxes and lookout bunkers ?

 

[Mirageman2020]

The Explore

Out for a walk with the wife and baby today, strolling from Hemsby to Winterton-on-Sea. As usual, on the lookout for odd buildings or pieces of concrete that look out of place. Sure enough on the return journey along the sand dunes, I made my excuses and took my leave, heading for a few old concrete 'military looking' fence posts on the top of the dunes that peaked by interest.

I found the remains of a concrete structure which I now know to be an orlit and just beyond that were the fence posts minus the wire fencing. Within the posts were the remains of the Winterton-on-Sea ROC post.

Inaccessible and capped off with concrete, looking a bit worse for ware but all surface structures are visible. Further research shows it was built in 1962 and closed in 1968.

Short and sweet, but to me, no holiday has been fully realised unless I find a bunker or ROC post.

The Photos

The compound from outside the fence boundary. Photos online from around 10 years ago show that the wire fence was more intact:

A closer view from within the compound, surface artefacts visible, albeit worse for wear:

Another view looking inland, with Holy Trinity & All Saints Church in Winterton-on-Sea visible in the background:

Another view looking sea ward:

A wider shot of the compound:

Next time you in winterton give me a shout as I live in the village and I’ll show you a few local places you may like to explore.

 

[The_Construct]

Next time you in winterton give me a shout as I live in the village and I’ll show you a few local places you may like to explore.

Ah nice will do, thanks. I reckon we will be back, a mate has a chalet in Hemsby we hope to frequent. Visited various areas in Norfolk but have not done any real explores in the region yet.

 

[The_Construct]

does ROC refer to Royal Observer Corps ? what is ROC, is this pillboxes and lookout bunkers ?

Yes it is the Royal Observer Corps, lots of info on the Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Observer_Corps

There were around 2000 of these small bunkers across the UK, around every miles. Many have now been buried or destroyed to make way for new buildings and housing etc. In the event of a nuclear war the team members would have placed camera equipment on top to take photographs of a nuclear explosion. A bomb pressure indicator would have taken readings of the blast. These details, along with weather information would have been sent back to command centres such as Kelvedon Hatch (The Secret Nuclear Bunker) where all the information coming in would have been used to plot the epicentre of a bomb and plot the fallout.