Monument record STN 097 - Second World War spigot mortar emplacement

On S bank of Little Ouse river, some 60m from a track/footbridge over the river at the Forestry Commission's St. Helen's picnic site at Santon, near Santon Downham. Steel mortar mount pin on 6-sided pillar a metre high surrounded by wall 0.3m thick and a metre high [see PLAN]. Full of water and covered with vegetation. Sited, with adjacent spigot mortar emplacement, to guard what was then a ford over the river.

July 2017. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
The Second World War spigot mortar emplacement described above could equate to a small pit visible as an earthwork on imagery from a recent lidar survey (S2). It should be noted however, the appearance of the pit on the lidar is very similar to that of a second, previously unrecorded pit identified 75m to the southeast (STN 143). Whether this is a coincidence, whether both are spigot mortar emplacements, or whether the origin of both is unrelated to military activity or the Second World War, is not known. The pit is not visible at the exact location recorded above, but some 12m to the east, so the monument polygon defining the site has been expanded to include both the originally recorded location and the pit identified on the lidar.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 17th July 2017.