Context 160 - July 2019

C O N T E X T 1 6 0 : J U L Y 2 0 1 9 13 Second world war The filling factories, which specialised in fill- ing explosives such as TNT and cordite into bombs, shells, cartridges and pyrotechnics, were the largest and most dangerous of the estab- lishments. At the peak of war production in 1942, 150,000 people were employed in filling factories alone, most of them women.The hours were long, with shift work continuing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There was a serious risk from accidents involving explosive materials and from handling toxic chemicals. Security was very tight. Items that might cause a spark were banned; not only matches and cigarette lighters, but personal items such as handbags, hair clips, anything made of metal, and even foodstuffs. Those working with sulphur found that their hair and skin turned yellow, and as a result they were known as ‘canary girls’. Under the direction of the Royal Ordnance Engineering Department, those responsible for planning the factories adopted standardisation and unified design. Buildings were laid out like playing cards on a flat table with a grid of roads and railway lines connecting them, the operations grouped together under eight spe- cific explosive-filling functions.¹ Operatives were allocated to a self-contained group and followed a daily routine served by ancillary buildings such as shifting houses (where they changed into buttonless overalls and handed over forbid- den items), clocking stations, canteens, rest rooms and air-raid shelters. Cleanliness was crucial as dust or grit admitted into buildings where explosives were present could produce a spark. Even outside, ‘cleanways’ were main- tained, with absorbing grass borders, and were regularly washed down with water to keep them in immaculate condition. The introduction of these huge factories on areas of open farmland was often opposed by countryside campaigners such as the Council for the Preservation of Rural England (as it was then). As with the factory layouts, the individual buildings were standardised according to func- tional principles, with no allowance for decora- tive embellishment. Flexibility was an important consideration, recognising that the nature of munitions would change over time. Almost all the buildings were single storey with brick walls and lightweight steel trussed roofs designed to lift in the event of an explosion. Rows of steel windows provided natural light, and interior walls were plastered and painted white to pro- vide clean, washable surfaces. Storage magazines had flat concrete roofs, often grassed over, and blast-proof concrete walls or earth bunding. The early factories at Chorley, Glascoed and Bridgend had two-storey administration blocks of more commanding scale, but even these were devoid of the neo-Georgian styling of contemporary military airfields or the art deco of commercial factories. The structures, however, were always soundly built, and an understanding of the hazards of handling explosive materials led to a much higher safety record than in the first world war. After the war, many of the munitions factories were closed, while others served as Ministry of Supply storage depots with a much-reduced workforce. The outbreak of the Korean War in 1951 brought reactivation for a short time, but in 1957 a government review resulted in more closures. As part of the privatisation process in the 1980s the majority were vested in the UK government-owned company Royal Ordnance PLC, which was bought by British Aerospace in 1987. Only one of the 16 second world war filling factories, ROF Glascoed, is used for munitions production today, operated by BAE Systems and supplying explosives for export as well as the Ministry of Defence. While the orthogonal layout of the site survives, as well as a number of the original production buildings, incremental changes have eroded its character. Other ROFs have become industrial estates, business parks and housing areas. Some accom- modate prisons. In a few cases original factory buildings have been successfully adapted for other uses. The main administration building at ROF Chorley is now part of Runshaw College’s Euxton Campus, along with a former stor- age building. The massive filling factory ROF Risley, Warrington, has become the nucleus of Birchwood new town, where four storage maga- zines can still be seen within Birchwood Forest Park. At other sites, such as ROF Bridgend and ROF Kirkby, a scattering of air-raid shelters, gun emplacements and pillboxes survive among new developments.² Meanwhile at ROF Bishopton on Clydeside, a number of buildings remained abandoned after BAE Systems closed the site in 1999, but in 2013 permission was granted for mixed-use development with no provision made for conservation. While Historic England has carried out research on first world war munitions factories, no thematic study has been made of the second The former main administration building at ROF Chorley, now converted for use by Runshaw College (Photo: Peter de Figueiredo) 1 Cocroft, W, (2002) Dangerous Energy: the archaeology of gunpowder and military explosives manufacture , English Heritage 2 Websites such as Dark Places, Derelict Places and 28 Days Later have tantalising photos of decaying structures on former munitions sites.