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ROF Bishopton
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ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Bishopton was a WW2 Ministry of Supply Explosive Factory. It is sited adjacent to the village of Bishopton in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The factory was built to manufacture the propellant cordite for the British Army and the Royal Air Force. It also later produced cordite for the Royal Navy. The Ministry of Works were responsible for the site. It was the biggest munitions factory the MOD had, with up to 20,000 workers.
The explosives factory opened between December 1940 and April 1941. It was one of three propellant factories built for the MOD. The others were ROF Wrexham and ROF Ranskill. Manufacturing survived on parts of the Bishopton site until 2002. The site is now owned by BAE Systems, who in conjunction with Redrow Homes, have submitted locally controversial proposals to use the site for building new housing. This development is now underway and is known as Dargavel Village.
The site was built on farm land acquired by compulsory purchase order. Over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land from up to seven farms was used to accommodate the factory. The land included the Category B listed Dargavel House and its grounds once owned by the entrepreneur Edward Steinkopff; the house still survives within the site boundary, as well as several former farm houses and public roads that were absorbed into the ROF site. The southern end of the site included land occupied by the former National Filling Factory (a WW1 munitions factory).
Much of the site lies around 10 metres elevation. This was one of the deciding factors for its location, as UK explosives factories were built near to sea level to take account of their favourable microclimates. Some of the site's high-grounds were used for the nitroglycerin hills.[citation needed]
Another reason this site was chosen was because of the area's high unemployment rate in the 1920s and 1930s. This meant there was a ready supply of female labour available to work in the factory. Nearby railway links also played a part in locating the factory at Bishopton.[citation needed]
The site consisted of three, almost self-contained explosive-manufacturing factories; with a common administration group and workshop support service. Building work on the first factory started in April 1937, the second started in April 1939 and the third in October 1939. There was a long delay in opening the first factory due to the critical shortage of a guaranteed water supply. The site has three separate water mains: fire fighting, process water and drinking water. A guaranteed supply of about ten million gallons per day was required.[citation needed]
Every building on the site was numbered; one part of the number code indicated if the building was assigned to Factory 0, 1, 2 or 3. The non-explosive sectors of the site were housed in Factory 0 (mostly nearest to Bishopton itself).[citation needed]
Factory 0 contained most of the supporting services for the site: a permanently staffed fire station with its own fire brigade; clothing department, general stores, laboratories, machine shops, general workshops, laundry, leather workshop, chemical plumber's workshop, carpenter's workshop, and ammunition box stores. It also housed the administration block, a few of the site's many canteens, ambulance station, medical centre, mortuary and the motor transport section.[citation needed]
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ROF Bishopton
The Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Bishopton was a WW2 Ministry of Supply Explosive Factory. It is sited adjacent to the village of Bishopton in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The factory was built to manufacture the propellant cordite for the British Army and the Royal Air Force. It also later produced cordite for the Royal Navy. The Ministry of Works were responsible for the site. It was the biggest munitions factory the MOD had, with up to 20,000 workers.
The explosives factory opened between December 1940 and April 1941. It was one of three propellant factories built for the MOD. The others were ROF Wrexham and ROF Ranskill. Manufacturing survived on parts of the Bishopton site until 2002. The site is now owned by BAE Systems, who in conjunction with Redrow Homes, have submitted locally controversial proposals to use the site for building new housing. This development is now underway and is known as Dargavel Village.
The site was built on farm land acquired by compulsory purchase order. Over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land from up to seven farms was used to accommodate the factory. The land included the Category B listed Dargavel House and its grounds once owned by the entrepreneur Edward Steinkopff; the house still survives within the site boundary, as well as several former farm houses and public roads that were absorbed into the ROF site. The southern end of the site included land occupied by the former National Filling Factory (a WW1 munitions factory).
Much of the site lies around 10 metres elevation. This was one of the deciding factors for its location, as UK explosives factories were built near to sea level to take account of their favourable microclimates. Some of the site's high-grounds were used for the nitroglycerin hills.[citation needed]
Another reason this site was chosen was because of the area's high unemployment rate in the 1920s and 1930s. This meant there was a ready supply of female labour available to work in the factory. Nearby railway links also played a part in locating the factory at Bishopton.[citation needed]
The site consisted of three, almost self-contained explosive-manufacturing factories; with a common administration group and workshop support service. Building work on the first factory started in April 1937, the second started in April 1939 and the third in October 1939. There was a long delay in opening the first factory due to the critical shortage of a guaranteed water supply. The site has three separate water mains: fire fighting, process water and drinking water. A guaranteed supply of about ten million gallons per day was required.[citation needed]
Every building on the site was numbered; one part of the number code indicated if the building was assigned to Factory 0, 1, 2 or 3. The non-explosive sectors of the site were housed in Factory 0 (mostly nearest to Bishopton itself).[citation needed]
Factory 0 contained most of the supporting services for the site: a permanently staffed fire station with its own fire brigade; clothing department, general stores, laboratories, machine shops, general workshops, laundry, leather workshop, chemical plumber's workshop, carpenter's workshop, and ammunition box stores. It also housed the administration block, a few of the site's many canteens, ambulance station, medical centre, mortuary and the motor transport section.[citation needed]
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