Nordelph homeowner loses bid to give crumbling pillbox a new lease of life

A homeowner has lost a bid to give a crumbling pillbox a new lease of life, after officials ruled it would harm the heritage of the Second World War relic.

Lee Bishop, a builder based in Nordelph had hoped to incorporate the 80-year-old structure at the end of his garden into his plans to create a three-bedroom house.

But West Norfolk Council blocked the scheme due to concerns it would affect the historical significance of the battlement.

Council officers also expressed worries that bats roosting in the pillbox would be harmed.

Mr Bishop had previously applied to demolish it entirely, which stirred up backlash from people living in the village.

Objectors argued that it is a unique example of the Second World War defensive structures, designed to hold an anti-tank gun and infantry.

Where many of the pillboxes dotted across the countryside and coastline are round, octagonal or hexagonal, the Nordelph pillbox is unusually large and square.

In his last attempt to gain permission for the project, Mr Bishop appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, the government department that presides over planning disputes.

His architect and agent argued the scheme would support the pillbox’s future by repairing the structure, which is currently in a poor state, and giving it a new use.

But government officials sided with the council.

The inspector ruled the proposed changes would “harm the setting and significance of the non-designated heritage asset”, adding that it had also “not been demonstrated it would not be harmful to protected species”.

The decision means the pillbox will continue to sit at the bottom of Mr Bishop’s garden, unchanged.

Last Line Of Defence

The pillbox in Nordelph is one of 28,000 that were built during the Second World War.

Many of these concrete fortifications appeared in Norfolk, as it was thought the county was likely to be the focus of a secondary or diversionary attack by Nazi forces, with the south coast thought to be the first place Germans would land in England.

This led to dozens of pillboxes being built on beaches, around the coast, and along five other lines of inland defence.

These lines were based along the rivers Ant, Bure, Wensum, Yare and Ouse – with the Nordelph pillbox located on the latter.

It was thought that if the coast was breached, the invasion could be resisted through these further stop lines, which would have been reinforced with reserves – likely members of the Home Guard, as famously depicted in the BBC series Dad’s Army.

Historians believe the locations recommended for fortifications in Norfolk were the same as those proposed during the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588, suggesting the nation’s defensive strategy had remained relatively unchanged for more than three centuries.

Today, while many of these relics from the Second World War remain dotted around the countryside, most have fallen into disrepair.