# Holton Heath Laboratories, Dorset - April 2014



## urban-dorset (Aug 14, 2014)

Sorry, for one reason or another it's taken me a while to put this visit online.

I visited this site over the course of a week in March/April 2014, along with my son. It was his first explore (he was 16 then). Sadly, the place is quite trashed and clearly used by the local yobs on almost a daily basis (things even changed around overnight).

It was quite amusing when we were there, as my son suddenly thought he could hear something being dragged. Being 16-years old he, of course, thought it must be a body. Or a zombie. Obviously! Anyway, I couldn't hear anything and so we continued with the explore and didn't have to put our Zombie Apocalypse Plan into action after all. ;-)

*
A brief bit of history:-*

The Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, (RNCF), was set up at Holton Heath, Dorset in World War I to manufacture Cordite for the Royal Navy. It was reactivated in World War II to manufacture gun propellants for the Admiralty and its output was supplemented by the Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent. 

After the end of World War II, the explosive manufacturing areas of the site were closed down and some areas of the site reopened as an Admiralty Research Establishment. A major part of the explosives site became a Nature Reserve [1] in 1981. Other parts of the site were converted into an Industrial Estate; and some may be used for housing.

The Admiralty Research Establishment became part of Defence Research Agency (DRA) and DRA Holton Heath finally closed in the late 1990s. None of the site is now owned by the Ministry of Defence.

The laboratories controlled the testing of raw materials coming into the site and the quality of explosives manufactured on the site. 

To the north is a group of stores for explosive samples, very similar in form to the expense magazines found on other explosives sites such as Waltham Abbey. The buildings, built to the designs of Fox and Sons of London, are all designed in the neo-Georgian style adopted for the administrative buildings associated with the government control of munitions which Lloyd George introduced as the National Factories Scheme in 1916.


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## Mikeymutt (Aug 14, 2014)

Fantastic set of shots there..Thank you.


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## mockingbird (Aug 14, 2014)

some nice angles you have here, good set


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## night crawler (Aug 15, 2014)

Thought it looked very MOD in the first photo, then I read the history. Nice little explore, just a pity the local cahve got to the place


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## flyboys90 (Aug 15, 2014)

Great photos thanks for sharing.


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## Kezz44 (Aug 15, 2014)

Nice set!! Looks like a good explore!


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## godzilla73 (Aug 15, 2014)

Did you make it down to the underground reservoir? That's an explore in it's own right!


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## urban-dorset (Aug 15, 2014)

godzilla73 said:


> Did you make it down to the underground reservoir? That's an explore in it's own right!



Tbh, I'm a bit wary of going there. Worried I might get boarded in or something and no way out! Call me a wuss, but there you go (yes, I'm female!).

Would be up for meeting up with those who have been there and would like to go again. Please PM me if anyone interested


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## brickworx (Aug 16, 2014)

Interesting place and nice pics ...thanks.


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## urban-dorset (Aug 22, 2014)

The labs are pretty well inaccessible now. :-/


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## fannyadams (Aug 23, 2014)

Love this and it really twangs at the heart strings! I used to work there when it was the Admiralty Research Establishment.


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