C O N T E X T 1 2 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 21 In 1956 the Admiralty’s Civil Engineer-in-Chief ’s Department office for Caerwent District produced a series of site and building plans for a dedicated guided weapon scheme production site located on the eastern boundary of the factory site, and for a guided weapon scheme firing bay site adjacent to the factory fence on the northern side. Construction of these buildings, which became known as the ‘J’ Buildings, began in 1957. Each building was protected by large earthen traverses. The guided weapon scheme production site comprised the J1 Plastic Cement and Coating Store, the J2 Charge Trimming building, J3 Expense Magazine No 1, the J4 Coating building, the J5 Motor Assembly building, the J6 Expense Magazine No 2, the M22 Magazine, a dedicated latrine and the Casing Store. The guided weapon scheme firing bay site comprised the J7 Hot, Cold and Ambient Charge Conditioning Building, the J8 Control Building and the J9 Firing Point. Static firings of Gosling rocket motors were first undertaken at RPD (Rocket Propulsion Department)Westcott in Buckinghamshire, and transferred to Caerwent with the commissioning of the guided weapon scheme firing bay site in 1959. The J8 Control Building contained CCTV coverage of the firing bay, a loudspeaker system, the firing mechanism and electronic equipment for the reception and amplification of the rocket impulses and photographic recording of the firing trace. The J7 Hot, Cold and Ambient Building contained three conditioning chambers able to heat the charges to 70 degrees centigrade or freeze to minus 40. The first Gosling firings were proof-of-concept experiments. Later test-firings were used for investigative purposes and manufacturing control. The team here was also involved with the development of the Magpie, Redtop and Sealyham solid-fuel rocket motors. All guided weapon scheme work ceased at Caerwent in 1966, with the remaining charges and equipment being transferred to Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopston, Glasgow. Pencil graffiti above an observation window at the east end of the J2 Charge Trimming Building poignantly recorded the end of Gosling production at Caerwent: ‘Last Gosling out June 14 1966’. The monuments at Aberporth and Caerwent are of national importance for their potential to enhance our knowledge of British cold war weapon systems, where there is a very limited survival of evidence overall. The survival of legible physical evidence associated with Sea Slug is also unique in terms of the development of Royal Naval weapon systems, where particularly little evidence is known to survive. Sea Slug was one of the major achievements by the British during the cold war era, marking a significant escalation in the arms race. An outstanding weapon in its day, it was described by the Royal Navy at the time as the best it had ever had. It possessed a single-shot kill probability of 92 per cent, which was far greater than any rival. As the first ship-launched missile, it marked the transition between the gun boat and the missile-equipped warship of the modern era.The design overcame major technical hurdles in terms of firing from a position subjected to the forces of roll, yaw and pitch at another fast-moving target. The missile system also used the first integrated magazine, handling gear and launching system. Sea Slug was withdrawn from service in 1991. The buildings associated with Sea Slug at Caerwent and Aberporth are owned and cared for by the Ministry of Defence.The importance of the surviving evidence at the former RNPF Caerwent was recognised following a building recording project (Tuck and Riddett 2006), and the discovery of surviving plans and documents from the Admiralty’s Civil Engineer-in-Chief’s Department archive (Alexander 1968). Assets at both sites have been legally protected as scheduled monuments and listed buildings. Collectively these two sites, despite being geographically distant, possess important group historical value, enhanced by the pioneering LOPGAP work atYnyslas. Their importance lies in their capability to inform us about early aspects of the British cold war era guided weapon scheme programme, and in turn about the global potent expression of the ideological divide between east and west. Jon Berry, Cadw’s regional inspector of ancient monuments and archaeology for south east Wales, leads on Cadw’s 20th century military sites programme. The J2 Charge Trimming Building at RNPF Caerwent’s guided weapon scheme production site is partly obscured from view by its earthen protective traverses. All photos: Cadw, Crown copyright Bibliography Alexander, CW (1968) The Royal Naval Propellant Factory Caerwent, Monmouthshire. Unpublished report: Ministry of Defence Parry, M and Groom, D (2010) Unpublished report: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments ofWales Tuck, M and Riddett, R (2006) Caerwent Training Area,Army Training Estate, Monmouthshire: buildings survey. Unpublished report: Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
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