Monument record MDO8224 - Royal Naval Cordite Factory Holton Heath, Wareham St Martin

A factory for the manufacture of cordite, RNCF Holton Heath occupied an area of around 200 hectares. Building work started in 1915 and the factory opened in January 1916. Different processes, including the manufacture of acetone, were added and the factory continued in use until 1957. During the Second World War it was protected by anti-aircraft batteries in adjacent areas of heathland, and a decoy site to the south. The site is visible on aerial photographs dating from 1947.

An unclassified building at Holton Heath to the south-wset of the Royal Naval Cordite Factory may be associated with the factory. It lies within the south-eastern part of the factory site, along the southern edge of the Dump Storage area, is of brick construction and consisted of two rooms. Now partially collapsed, the eastern wing is now unroofed. <2>

The Royal Naval Cordite Factory (RNCF) was established at Holton Heath during the First World War. Cordite was an explosive component used as a propellant for shells. Built in 1915-16, the factory was the first purpose-built site for cordite production in the United Kingdom. It originally covered an area of about 200ha, predominantly on heathland, on the north western edge of Poole Harbour. One of the principal ingredients for cordite was acetone. The factory provided its own supply through an acetone plant, which employed novel fermentation technology using maize as a starch source. The process introduced laboratory-like sterility into an industrial process for the first time. It also represented the first purpose-built industrial plant in the United Kingdom designed for the application of a ‘biotechnology'.There were three main production areas at the factory including the acetone plant within the south western area (33181/01); the nitration plant and cordite press plant within the central area (33183/03); and the cordite drying plant and picrites factory to the east (area 33181/04). All were contained within the so-called ‘Danger Area’; a fenced compound which housed all structures involved in the production, processing and handling of explosive material. An area in the north west of the complex contained the general offices and laboratories, set around a courtyard. The size of the site necessitated the construction of a number of transport networks, including a railway. Water was held in the main reservoir within the centre of the site but a second, smaller, reservoir was constructed to the south east to provide a reserve supply in case of emergency.The factory continued to manufacture cordite until 1946, while picrites and tetryl production continued on an intermittent basis until 1957, when production at RNCF finally ended.

The Royal Naval Cordite Factory (RNCF) was established at Holton Heath, Dorset, during the First World War. In 1914, Winston Churchill (then First Lord of The Admiralty) commissioned a plant to provide the Royal Navy with an independent supply of high quality cordite as a propellant for shells. The cordite was manufactured by mixing nitroglycerine and guncotton. These ingredients are volatile and highly explosive in nature and their production required a remote and secure location. The site at Holton Heath met these requirements. Built in 1915-16, the factory was the first purpose-built site for cordite production in the United Kingdom. It originally covered an area of about 200ha, predominantly on heathland, on the north western edge of Poole Harbour. One of the principal ingredients for cordite was acetone. The factory provided its own supply through an acetone plant, which employed novel fermentation technology using maize as a starch source. The process introduced laboratory-like sterility into an industrial process for the first time. It also represented the first purpose-built industrial plant in the United Kingdom designed for the application of a ‘biotechnology'.

There were three main production areas at the factory including the acetone plant within the south western area (33181/01); the nitration plant and cordite press plant within the central area (33183/03); and the cordite drying plant and picrites factory to the east (area 33181/04). All were contained within the so-called ‘Danger Area’; a fenced compound which housed all structures involved in the production, processing and handling of explosive material. An area in the north west of the complex contained the general offices and laboratories, set around a courtyard. Buildings in the Danger Area were mainly of flimsy construction at first, mostly composed of matchboarding with wooden roofs covered in a rubberoid material which would, in the event of an explosion, extinguish themselves when projected through the air. The floors were often covered in asphalt (except in the nitrator plant where lead was used). All Danger Buildings had to be set at prescribed distances from other structures and earthen mounds were constructed around their periphery in order to prevent explosive waves from travelling horizontally between them.

The factory continued to manufacture cordite until 1946, while picrites and tetryl production continued on an intermittent basis until 1957, when production at RNCF finally ended. During World War II, the factory was protected by a group of anti-aircraft batteries and a bombing decoy site established to the south. <3>

SY 949912. Much of the southern part of the site is now occupied by an industrial estate. The cordite was used as a propellant for shells and was produced by mixing nitroglycerine and guncotton. Construction began in 1915 and the factory opened in 1917. Three main production areas can be identified: the acetone plant (SY 99 SW 13); the nitration plant (SY 99 SW 19) and the cordite drying plant and picrites factory.

From 1927 cordite was produced in sheets which were then cut into squares and further consolidated in the press houses. This created a more highly explosive form of cordite and after a number of accidents a new design of press house was developed, including three separate structures for the operatives, motors and presses, with each building separated from the others with earthen banks. During the 1940s, large presses were introduced to produce rocket propellant and catapult cordite. These were housed in new buildings constructed of reinforced concrete with steel frames, each covered by a large earthen mound. Flashless cordite was produced from the late 1920s. This required the addition of picrites and a picrites factory was built within the complex in 1937.

An area to the north west of the complex held the general offices and laboratories, set around a courtyard. The size of the site necessitated the construction of a number of transport networks, including a railway. Water was held in the main reservoir within the centre of the site but a second, smaller, reservoir was constructed to the south east to provide a reserve supply in case of emergency. Production on the site finally ceased in 1957. <3>

Further detail regarding this factory is included in the book 'Dangerous Energy' by Wayne Cocroft <4>. This notes that during the First World War the Admiralty asked schoolchildren across the country to collect acorns and horse-chestnuts for this plant to be used in explosives manufacture.

A Royal Navy factory for the manufacture of cordite. RNCF Holton Heath occupied an area of around 200 hectares to the north east of Wareham St Martin. Building work started in 1915 and the factory opened in January 1916. Different processes, including the manufacture of acetone, were added and the factory continued in use until 1957. During the Second World War it was protected by anti-aircraft batteries in adjacent areas of heathland (including MDO27770, MDO30619, MDO30549), and a decoy site to the south. The site is visible on aerial photographs dating from 1947 <3-5> and on the most recent comprehensive aerial imagery available to the project <5-9>. This site was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset) and the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> 2000, Holton Heath, Purbeck: environmental assessment (Unpublished document). SDO17273.

<2> English Heritage, English Heritage Alternative Action Report, MPPA, 11-Jan-2001 (Scheduling record). SDO18279.

<3> English Heritage, Scheduled Monument Notification, 25-Jun-01 (Scheduling record). SDO17381.

<4> Cocroft, Wayne D, 2000, Dangerous Energy. The archaeology of gunpowder and military explosives manufacture, 157-159, 161-163 (Monograph). SDO16942.

<5> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 5017-19 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12969.

<6> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 5049-50 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13340.

<7> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 2049-50 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13331.

<8> Channel Coastal Observatory, 15-OCT-2010, CCO Aerial Photographic Coverage 2009 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12622.

<9> Environment Agency, 2010, Lidar DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO13148.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1397370 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1408739 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 13 2024 11:21AM