Buildings J7.J9 at the northern edge of the site formed a static testing site, where these motors could be test-fired. From 1957 dedicated buildings, J1.J6, were constructed on the eastern side of the site for the production of guided weapons propellants.
This Cold War work began in wartime buildings, the horizontal presses in Press Houses 3 and a longer press in 1, and with other work in a disused blending house and the Tetryl Acetone Recovery building. Cold War īetween 19, Caerwent produced the Gosling solid rocket booster for the Seaslug missile. At the same time, Unit 2 of the factory was almost completed, so RNPF Caerwent was now virtually operational. In August 1941 the Nitrocellulose and Nitroglycerine plants were operational and were soon working 24 hours a day on a three-shift pattern. Five months later, the Pressure Oxidation Plant for the manufacture of Nitric acid came on stream. īy the end of 1940 the Main Office block was complete, and in December of that year the Unit 1 Sulphuric Acid Factory went into production with acid mixing for the Nitrocellulose and Nitroglycerine manufacturing. The scale of site consumed the village of Dinham which was located at the northern edge of the RNPF Caerwent.
The site's total area was 1,580 acres (6.4 km 2) of land with a total of 1,163 acres (4.71 km 2) enclosed within the factory fence. A total of £4.7 million was spent on buildings and roads, and £2.5 million on plant and equipment. Work began to create the propellants factory in 1939. The GWR used about 1.5 million imperial gallons (6,800 m³) per day themselves, so there was always a guaranteed daily surplus of 7.5 million imperial gallons (34,000 m³). Even during the great drought of 1934 the lowest daily return was 9.1 million imperial gallons (41,000 m³). One of the major difficulties encountered underground was the 'Great Spring', which necessitated the pumping of over 9 million gallons (41,000 m³) of water per day, at Sudbrook, from the western end of the tunnel, conveniently located only three miles (5 km) away from the proposed site at Caerwent. In latter part of the 19th century, the Great Western Railway (GWR) had undertaken the engineering feat of constructing the Severn Tunnel under the River Severn. To manufacture 150 tons of cordite per week the factory would need 3 million imperial gallons (14,000 m³) of drinking quality water per day.
Like all explosive factories of this type, a capacious supply of water was required for use in the manufacturing processes. the higher part should not have an elevation of not less than 100 ft (30 m) above the lowest part to limit the internal gradients.should be located on rough grassland with a gravel on sand subsoil with good natural drainage and a slope of about 1 in 30 to provide maximum safety in the highly dangerous nitroglycerine manufacturing and handling areas.should be close to a railway and to main roads.should not be located in an industrial area, but sufficiently close to a populated area to provide an adequate workforce.the establishment should not be vulnerable to air attack.In the summer of 1936 the Royal Navy drew up prequirements for a new factory were drawn up. Since 1993, the former factory site has been used for a variety of military and civil purposes, including military field exercises, car rallying, storage and breakdown of railway vehicles, nature preservation, and leisure activites such as Airsoft. The factory had its own standard gauge railway system, miles of roads and a wide range of buildings, from small earth-banked bomb stores to large four storey built brick buildings. The site, which is about 2 mi (3.2 km) by 1.5 miles (2.4 km), encompasses a perimeter road that is more than 7 mi (11 km) long. The large military site is situated north of the A48 road about 5 mi (8.0 km) west of Chepstow and 12 miles (19 km) east of Newport. A new purpose-built military barracks is set to be built on the site to house 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards and 1st Battalion, The Rifles from 2027. It is now used as the Caerwent Training Area. Since its closure as an armament works in 1966, it has been used by the US military and the British Army. The Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent was a facility at Caerwent, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK, (later RAF Caerwent) which was originally dedicated to the manufacture and storage of Royal Naval munitions.
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