Monument record MWX444 - Rocket Test Facility, Blacknor Fort, Portland

Rocket Test Facility, in use in late 1930s, on the site of late 19th-century coastal battery, for selected experimental firings of cordite rockets. Test firings stopped in 1938, although were resumed before the war, before being moved to Aberporth.

In the late 1930s the nineteenth century coastal battery at Fort Blacknor (SY 67 SE/64) was selected for experimental firings of 3-inch cordite rockets. The use of the fort allowed the rockets to be tracked using its gun predictors usually used to measure the fall of gun shots. Experimental work was suspended when the fort was put on a war footing during the Munich Crisis in autumn 1938. Test firings were, however, subsequently resumed at Fort Blacknor before the war but were later moved to Aberporth in West Wales. <1-2>

<1> Cocroft, Wayne D, 1997, RCHME Dangerous Energy Project: Field Investigator's Comments, 17-MAR-1997 (Unpublished document). SWX2180.

<2> Pooley, S J, 1994, The Development of the 3-inch British Military Rocket, p124 (Article in serial). SWX8437.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1078752 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jun 9 2023 6:42AM