Curtis’s and Harvey Ltd Explosives Factory

 arsenal / weapon and ammunition storage, explosives, abandoned / shut down, historic landmark, historic ruins, 19th century construction

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Initially, Hay, Merricks & Co set up a small-scale gunpowder storage facility here in 1892. Then in 1898, the site was acquired by Curtis’s & Harvey Ltd who quickly established a new chemical explosives factory. The works grew rapidly, and during the First World War it became a government-controlled establishment manufacturing a range of propellant and blasting explosives with a primary focus on producing naval cordite. It was a short-lived enterprise, closing around 1920 due to the post-war reduction in demand for munitions.

When the factory closed in the early 1920s, all reusable materials--tiles, bricks, timbers, corrugated iron, pipes, metals, etc--were stripped for use elsewhere, leaving very little behind. The site was not used much during WWII other than for training.

research.historicengland.org.uk/Report.aspx?i=14963
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