thumb|Entrance to BAE Systems, Bridgwater

Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Bridgwater was a factory between the villages of Puriton and Woolavington in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England, that produced high explosives for munitions. It was slightly above sea level, between the contour lines on Ordnance Survey maps. BAE Systems closed it when decommissioning was completed in July 2008.

History

thumb|right|ROF Bridgwater on a target dossier of the German [[Luftwaffe, 1942]]

It was constructed early in World War II for the Ministry of Supply, with the Ministry of Works as Agents. It was designed as an Explosive ROF to produce RDX, a new experimental high-explosive developed at the RGPF Waltham Abbey. Construction work started in 1939 and it opened in 1941.

On 29 June 1951, an explosion killed six men. No cause was ever identified.

It was also known as "ROF 37", a name that was reflected in its sports and social association, the "37 Club", just outside the perimeter fence.

Infrastructure

As munitions production needed a guaranteed year-round clean water supply of several million gallons per day, the site was ideal, being able to obtain supplies from the water-logged Somerset Levels:

  • the artificial Huntspill River, dug during construction;
  • the King's Sedgemoor Drain, widened at the same time;

Production

During the construction period it appears that the decision was made to fill munitions, including the bouncing bomb, with a mixture of TNT and RDX rather than RDX alone. The factory manufactured RDX in two separate production units, then sent to Filling Factories such as ROF Chorley and ROF Glascoed for filling into munitions. It also concentrated and re-cycled its own sulphuric acid.

Like all ROFs at the time, the factory was a production factory: formulation of explosives, propellants and munitions was carried out at separate government-owned research and development establishments such as the Research Department, initially at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich and then Fort Halstead; and at PERME Waltham Abbey, later transferred to RARDE Fort Halstead. After privatisation Royal Ordnance PLC took over some of this capability, other parts being closed or becoming part of QinetiQ.

Post World War II

During the slack period between 1945 and the Korean War the factory and ROF Chorley and ROF Glascoed built two-storey pre-fabricated concrete houses.

In February 2024, Tata Group confirmed it would invest £4 billion to create a battery factory, built by Agratas, on the Gravity site. Battery production is set to begin in 2026, with the creation of around 4,000 jobs.

References

Further reading

  • Dunning, R.W. (2004). The Victoria History of the County of Somerset, Volume VIII, The Poldens and the Levels. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • 37 sports and social club
  • Gravity - ROF Bridgwater today<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->