The Story of the
Holton Heath, Dorset, UK
Factory Site Location
and Construction
The origins of the Royal Naval Cordite Factory lie in the outbreak of the First World War.
There was a need to expand the production of propellants for shells and several factories were built. At the same time Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, was persuaded that the Royal Navy needed its own propellant factory, producing high quality reproducible material.
The result was RNCF at Holton Heath, Dorset which, when built, was using state of the art propellant technology and continued to be at the forefront of developments for forty years.
HMS Constance, the first figurehead in the main square at RNCF
(see photo below)
