- Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath
The Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, (RNCF), was set up at Holton Heath,
Dorset inWorld War I to manufactureCordite for theRoyal Navy . It was reactivated inWorld War II to manufacture gunpropellant s for theAdmiralty and its output was supplemented by theRoyal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent . After the end of World War II, the explosive manufacturing areas of the site were closed down and some areas of the site reopened as an Admiralty Research Establishment. A major part of the explosives site became a Nature Reserve [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/nnr/nnr_details.asp?nnr_name=&C=0&Habitat=0&natural_area=&local_team=0&spotlight_reserve=0&X=&NNR_ID=90] in 1981. Other parts of the site were converted into an Industrial Estate; and some may be used for housing.The Admiralty Research Establishment became part of
Defence Research Agency (DRA) and DRA Holton Heath finally closed in the late 1990s. None of the site is now owned by the Ministry of Defence.The site
A site was needed because
Winston Churchill , theFirst Lord of the Admiralty , insisted that the Royal Navy had their own independent supply of Cordite. The Army was to be supplied with Cordite from theHM Factory, Gretna , atGretna, Scotland , another remote location. Holton Heath was chosen in 1914 because of its remote location, away from centres of population, and its good transportation links. It was adjacent to theLondon and South Western Railway , it was on a backwater ofPoole Harbour and it was adjacent to the Wareham toPoole road, theA351 road .During construction and during World War I, it was guarded by a detachment of armed Metropolitan Police. After World War I, the site was guarded by the Royal Marine Police; and later the
Ministry of Defence Police . There were several scares and false alarms during construction, i.e. claims that various builder's and contractor's English or Irish employees were German spies orsaboteur s. All these claims had to be investigated. In 1935, during the Re-armament Period, a newnitroglycerin plant was bought fromCologne , Germany, and installed by German technicians. It was necessary for the police to guard them, as they may otherwise have been attacked due to resentment about the rise in power ofNazi Germany and memories of World War I Bowditch, Chapter 7: The new NG Hill] . The main site was bounded by the A351, Station Road and the London and South Western Railway.Holton Heath railway station was opened to serve the RNCF. The RNCF was linked to the railway by a siding which entered the site just west of the station. A few administration buildings were built on the other side of Station Road. A coal-fired water pumping house was also built away from the main site, atCorfe Mullen , to pump water from the River StourBowditch] . It was linked to a 3.5 million gallon reservoir inside the RNCF by a 16inch water main. The pumping house was supplied with coal from its own railway siding from theSomerset and Dorset Railway , which passed nearby.A jetty, Rockley Jetty, was also constructed in
Poole Harbour just outside the main site. It was used to transport Cordite by boat toPriddy's Hard , inGosport Bowditch] . The jetty was linked into the factory's railway system usingstandard gauge track. This private track ran parallel to the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) for some distance. It crossed over the top of the LSWR means of aviaduct .World War I
To be added.
Chaim Weizmann and Acetone
Production of Cordite required large volumes of the solvent
Acetone and this was in short supply. At the time, acetone was manufactured bydestructive distillation ofwood .Chaim Weizmann had developed a process of bacterial fermentation, usingClostridium acetobutylicum , in 1912 but it did not appear to have any commercial value.Chaim Weizmann was introduced to
David Lloyd George ,Minister of Munitions , and Winston Churchill in 1915 and was given facilities to develop the process. He used a laboratory at theLister Institute in London and industrial plant at Nicholson'sGin Distillery in Bow to perfect it.A full scale acetone plant was set up at the RNCF using bacterial fermentation of Grain. By 1917 there was a shortage of grain so Horse Chestnuts were used as an alternative source of
starch . Local school children were asked by the Ministry of Munitions to collect Horse Chestnuts; and six huge storageStorage silo s were built to store the Horse Chestnuts. A larger bacterial fermentation plant was also set up inCanada as they had moreMaize than the United Kingdom. After the end of World War I the bacterial fermentation plant was demolished but the silos were kept. In World War II the basements of RNCF silos were converted toAir-raid shelter s; the silos being filled with earth to provide protection. They survived beyond the closure of the Holton Heath site (see below).World War II
Note: The Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, like the Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent, were never part of the Ministry of Supply /
Royal Ordnance Factory management chain; they were controlled by the Admiralty. However, they were functionally very similar to theExplosive ROF s.Post-war use
After the end of World War II, propellant manufacture ceased at Holton Heath, although Caerwent continued to produce Cordite.
The camp was also used as the fictitious 'Sandford Army Camp' in the UK television series '
Bad Lads Army Extreme' in 2006.To be expanded.
Notes
ee also
* Bowditch, M.R. and Hayward, L (1996). "A Pictorial Record of the Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Heath". Wareham: Finial Publishing. ISBN 1-900467-01-1
* Pomeroy, Colin A., (1995). "Military Dorset Today: Second World War scenes and settings that can still be seen 50 years on". Peterborough: Silver Link Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85794-077-6
* Sutton, Michael, (2002). Moulder of molecules: maker of a Nation, "Chemistry in Britain", 38, Pp 34 - 36. (December 2002).Link to map of site as it currently exits [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=395000&Y=91000&scale=25000&width=500&height=300&gride=&gridn=&lang=&db=pc]
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