ROF Bishopton
Encyclopedia
The Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factories was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories in and after World War II. Until privatisation in 1987 they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply and later the Ministry of Defence....

 (ROF) Bishopton
was a UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Ministry of Supply, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Explosive ROF
Explosive ROF
An Explosive ROF was a UK Government-owned Royal Ordnance Factory , which specialised in manufacturing explosives during and after World War II...

. It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton, Renfrewshire
Bishopton, Renfrewshire
Bishopton is a large village in Renfrewshire, Scotland, a few miles west of Erskine.-Transport links:Bishopton sits a couple of miles from the southern end of the Erskine Bridge, which spans the River Clyde between Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire. Part way along the B815 road is a computer...

, in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

It was built, with the Ministry of Works acting as Agents, as three separate, almost self-contained, explosive factories within the same perimeter fence
Perimeter fence
A perimeter fence is a structure that circles the perimeter of an area to prevent access. These fences are frequently made out of single vertical metal bars connected at the top and bottom with a horizontal bar. They often have spikes on the top to prevent climbing. Residential perimeter fences are...

. They shared a common Administration Group and Workshop Support Services Group. The factory was built to manufacture propellant, Cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...

 in the main, for the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 and the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

. It did not produce propellant for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 in World War II as the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

 demanded, and got, its own propellant factories.

The three explosive factories opened between December 1940 and April 1941. Explosives manufacturing survived on parts of the site until about 2000; although ROF Bishopton was privatised
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

 in the early 1980s.

The privatised ROFs become known in 1984 as Royal Ordnance
Royal Ordnance
Royal Ordnance plc was formed on 2 January 1985 as a public corporation, owning the majority of what until then were the remaining United Kingdom government-owned Royal Ordnance Factories which manufactured explosives, ammunition, small arms including the Lee-Enfield rifle, guns and military...

 PLC, then in 1987 as RO Defence; and now BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions.

The site is still owned by BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...

, who in conjunction with Redrow Homes, have submitted locally controversial proposals to use a large part of this site for building new housing. If accepted this could, at least, double the size of Bishopton.

Choice of Location

Much of the site lies around the 10 metres elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

 and this was one of the deciding factors for its location; as UK explosives factories were built near to sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

 to take account of their favorable micro climates. Some of the site's local high-grounds were used for the many nitroglycerine hills.

The other reasons being Clydeside
Red Clydeside
Red Clydeside is a term used to describe the era of political radicalism that characterised the city of Glasgow in Scotland, and urban areas around the city on the banks of the River Clyde such as Clydebank, Greenock and Paisley...

's high unemployment rates in the 1920s and 1930s; the need to locate explosives factories in the United Kingdom safe zone (see Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factories was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories in and after World War II. Until privatisation in 1987 they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply and later the Ministry of Defence....

); a remote location with good railway links; and a ready supply of female labour.

The Site

The site consists of three, almost self-contained explosive-manufacturing factories; with a common Administration Group and Workshops Support Services Group. Building work on the first factory started in April 1937, the second stated in April 1939 and the third in October 1939. The long delay in opening the first factory was due to the critical shortage of a guaranteed water supply. The site has three separate water mains: Fire Fighting, Process Water and Drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...

; and needed a guaranteed supply of about ten million
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...

 gallon
Gallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...

s per day.

The site was built on farm land, acquired by compulsory purchase, on the other side of the railway line from the village of Bishopton. However, the southern end of the site included land occupied by the former, by now closed, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Scottish Filling Factory (National Filling Factory No. 4), NFF Georgetown.

Over 2000 acres (8.1 km²) of land from up to seven farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

s was used to accommodate these three factories. The land included Dargavel House and its grounds, the house still survives within the site boundary; as well as a number of former farm houses and public roads that were absorbed into the ROF site.

Factory 0

Every building on the site was numbered; one part of the number code indicated whether the building was assigned to Factory 0, 1, 2 or 3. Factory 0 consisted of the non-explosive sectors of the site (mostly nearest to Bishopton itself).

Factory 0 contained most of the supporting services for the nearly self-contained manufacturing site. A permanently manned fire station with its own fire brigade
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

; clothing and general stores, laboratories
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...

, machine shops, general workshops, laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...

, leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

 workshop, chemical plumber's
Plumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable water, sewage, and drainage in plumbing systems. The term dates from ancient times, and is related to the Latin word for lead, "plumbum." A person engaged in fixing metaphorical "leaks" may also be...

 workshop, carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

's workshops, and (empty) ammunition box stores.

It also housed the administration block, a few of the site's many canteens, the ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...

 station, the medical centre, the mortuary
Morgue
A morgue or mortuary is used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification, or removal for autopsy or disposal by burial, cremation or otherwise...

 and the motor transport (M/T) section.

Factories I, II and III

Factories I, II and III each had their own coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

-fired power stations for producing high-pressure steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...

 for generating electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

 using steam-turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...

-alternator
Alternator
An alternator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current.Most alternators use a rotating magnetic field but linear alternators are occasionally used...

s; with the resulting low pressure steam used for site heating and Cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...

 drying. The three power-stations were also interlinked by high-pressure steam mains.

Each factory had three nitroglycerine hills, operating on a batch process
Batch production
Batch production is a technique used in manufacturing, in which the object in question is created stage by stage over a series of workstations. Batch production is common in bakeries and in the manufacture of sports shoes, pharmaceutical ingredients , inks, paints and adhesives. In the manufacture...

, to produce nitroglycerine. Factories I and II (and possibly III) had their own nitration
Nitration
Nitration is a general chemical process for the introduction of a nitro group into a chemical compound. The dominant application of nitration is for the production of nitrobenzene, the precursor to methylene diphenyl diisocyanate...

 plants for making nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it is also known as guncotton...

. Nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose were then processed to produce Cordite.

Factory II lay south of the former public road between Bishopton station and Reilly farm, it included parts of the former NFF Georgetown.

Nearly all the buildings, with the exception of the buildings on the nitroglycerine hills which were light-weight, were steel frame
Steel frame
Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal -beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame...

d buildings with triple-brick walls and bomb-proof reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...

 roofs. However, some of the buildings in factory III, which was built last, such as the power station, were clad with corrugated iron
Corrugated galvanised iron
Corrugated galvanised iron is a building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised mild steel, cold-rolled to produce a linear corrugated pattern in them...

 to reduce costs.

Other facilities

ROF Bishopton had an RDX
RDX
RDX, an initialism for Research Department Explosive, is an explosive nitroamine widely used in military and industrial applications. It was developed as an explosive which was more powerful than TNT, and it saw wide use in WWII. RDX is also known as cyclonite, hexogen , and T4...

 plant installed in World War II. The plant was declared redundant to requirements and was dismantled in 1950. It was apparently then shipped to Albion
Albion, Victoria
Albion is a small suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km west from Melbourne's central business district. It is completely surrounded by other parts of Sunshine except for Ardeer which lies to Albion's due west across Kororoit Creek. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank...

 Explosives, presumably at Cairnlea
Cairnlea, Victoria
Cairnlea is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank...

 Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and re-erected.

Included within the site boundary, but separate from it on the old NFF site, was an Armoured Fighting Vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....

 (AFV) storage compound. This was linked to an AFV repair factory at Linwood
Linwood
Linwood is a small town in Renfrewshire, Scotland, 14 miles south-west of Glasgow.Linwood is a commuter town, with proximity to Glasgow International Airport and the M8 motorway to Glasgow and Edinburgh...

, the REME
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from Challenger II main battle tanks and WAH64 Apache...

 factory.

Railways

The southern end of the site near the River Gryfe
River Gryfe
The River Gryfe or River Gryffe is a river and tributary of the Black Cart Water, running through the historic county of Renfrewshire and the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde in the west central Lowlands of Scotland, United Kingdom....

 was connected to what was then the Caledonian Railway
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...

 line. The connection, just north of the former Houston (Georgetown) railway station
Georgetown railway station
Georgetown railway station was a railway station serving the village of Houston, Renfrewshire, Scotland, originally as part of the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway and later owned by the Caledonian Railway.-History:...

, dated back to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and the Georgetown Filling Factory. The railway connection was probably severed and the rail track lifted when the Inverclyde Line
Inverclyde Line
The Inverclyde Line is a railway line running from Glasgow Central station through Paisley and a series of stations to the south of the River Clyde and the Firth of Clyde, terminating at Gourock and Wemyss Bay, where it connects to Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services...

 was electrified
Railway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...

 in 1960s. Within ROF Bishopton's perimeter fence this line was still there in the 1990s albeit with 20-30 year-old trees growing between the sleepers
Railroad tie
A railroad tie/railway tie , or railway sleeper is a rectangular item used to support the rails in railroad tracks...

 and rails.

The main standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 link from the railway line, by now the LMS
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...

, was just northwest of Bishopton station. ROF Bishopton had a large transfer sidings here, connected to both the up and down lines. The ROF line, which was never electrified, ran through the transfer sidings. It crossed Ingleston Road, via a gated level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...

 (grade crossing), and entered the ROF site from the north. The link remained in-situ right up to closure, but was little used after the early 1990s.

ROF Bishopton had about 20 miles of standard gauge railway line within its perimeter fence, its own fleet of nitric acid
Nitric acid
Nitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosive and toxic strong acid.Colorless when pure, older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to the accumulation of oxides of nitrogen. If the solution contains more than 86% nitric acid, it is referred to as fuming...

 wagons and its own diesel locomotives for shunting. They were used to move wagons between the transfer sidings and various locations within the ROF site. In addition, ROF Bishopton had some 80 miles of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge narrow gauge railway lines for transporting explosives within the site. There was a large fleet of rolling stock and a specialist workshop for maintenance of the locomotives which were kept in excellent mechanical condition. Many items of narrow gauge railway equipment from Bishopton still exist and can be seen at locations such as the Almond Valley Light Railway
Almond Valley Light Railway
The Almond Valley Light Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway running at the Almond Valley Heritage Trust site at Livingston, Scotland. The railway operates at weekends between Easter and the end of September, and daily during some school holiday periods. There are two stations, both with...

 (six assorted locomotives) and the Amberley Museum Railway
Amberley Museum Railway
The Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre Railway is a gauge railway based at the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre, Amberley, West Sussex. It has a varied collection of engines and rolling stock ranging from gauge to gauge...

 (locomotive No.12 and wagons).

Housing

Housing to accommodate what was later to become the Ministry of Defence Police
Ministry of Defence Police
The Ministry of Defence Police is a civilian police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The force is part of the larger government agency, the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency , together with the Ministry of Defence Guard Service...

 was provided locally in Bishopton. Two new streets were built to provide housing for married police constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...

s and sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

s - Holm Park and Rossland Crescent. Barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

 block accommodation for unmarrried police was built adjacent to Holm Park; it was used from the 1970s onwards as a MoD Police social club. Some prefabricated houses
Prefabricated home
Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes, are dwellings manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled....

 were also built in Rossland Crescent, but these have been demolished. Houses for essential staff, such as managers who needed to be on call, were provided on Poplar Avenue. Also Ingleston Drive may possibly have been built for ROF workers. A hostel
Hostel
Hostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed, in a dormitory and share a bathroom, lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms may also be available...

 for single women workers was built in Paisley, by the Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Labour
The Ministry of Labour was a British civil service department established by the New Ministries and Secretaries Act 1916. It was renamed the Employment Department in 1988, and finally abolished in 1995...

, on Oakshaw Street.

Post World War II

After the closure of the Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent
Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent
The Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent, Monmouthshire, UK, was dedicated to the manufacture of explosives or the storage of ammunition from 1939 to 1993....

, in 1965, ROF Bishopton started making Cordite for the Royal Navy.

Privatisation

As a part of the Explosives Division of Royal Ordnance
Royal Ordnance
Royal Ordnance plc was formed on 2 January 1985 as a public corporation, owning the majority of what until then were the remaining United Kingdom government-owned Royal Ordnance Factories which manufactured explosives, ammunition, small arms including the Lee-Enfield rifle, guns and military...

 Plc, the ROF was privatised in 1984 and sold to British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...

 in 1987.

The MOD Fire Service moved out after privatisation; and the MOD Police moved out after the sale to British Aerospace. Their former Social Club at Holm Park, with its adjoining sports field, became part of facilities of Bishopton village.

The former MOD Police houses at both Holm Park and Rossland Crescent were retained by the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

 and were sold off in the mid 1980s to private buyers. As they were still connected to ROF Bishopton's sewage system and water supply system they had to be connected to the public systems before they could be sold.

The workforce fell from about 3,000 in the late 1970s to 2,000 at the time of privatisation in 1984. The workforce was about 1,000 in 1991 and was reduced to about 600 in 1993. There was a further reduction in 1996 to 450 employees as the business tried to reduce costs. It was announced in 1998 that the site would close after the loss of a major government contract for the supply of 155mm ammunition to the South African defence contractor, Denel. Manufacture on the site finally ceased in June 2002.

During the 1990s, significant investment was made to the site automating its Nitrogylycerine, Nitrocellulose and Nitroguanidine manufacturing plants which both improved manufacturing capabilities and process safety. Prior to its closure the site was producing gun and rocket propellant for use in numerous weapons systems.

Closure

BAE Systems is the current owner of the former-ROF Bishopton site and uses part of it as an Environmental Test Facility (ETF).
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