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The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) was a UK government-owned rifle factory in Enfield (though some parts were in Waltham Abbey), adjoining the Lee Navigation in the Lea Valley. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and
sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
s from 1816. It closed in 1988, but some of its work was transferred to other sites. The factory designed and manufactured many famous British Army weapons including the
Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's sta ...
rifles which were standard equipment during both World Wars.


History

The RSAF had its origins in a short-lived Royal Manufactory of Small Arms established in
Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one ...
in 1807. (The site in Lewisham was a mill where armour had been made since the fourteenth century; following its purchase by Henry VIII in 1530, it became known as the Royal Armoury Mills and served his armoury in Greenwich.) During the Napoleonic War, the increasing demand for large quantities of reliable weapons prompted the Board of Ordnance to look into building a new factory on a larger site.


Foundation

The factory was to be located at
Enfield Lock Enfield Lock is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, north London. It is approximately located east of the Hertford Road between Turkey Street and the Holmesdale Tunnel overpass, and extends to the River Lee Navigation, including the En ...
on a
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found ...
y island bordered by the River Lea and the Lee Navigation. The land was acquired in 1812 and the factory completed by 1816.Pam, David, (1998). ''The Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield & Its Workers''. Enfield: Published by the author. . The site had the advantages of water-power to drive the machinery and the River Lea Navigation for the transportation by barge of raw materials and finished weapons to the River Thames, 15 miles away to be loaded onto sailing ships. Neighbouring farmland was acquired to become a restricted area to test ordnance from the Royal Gunpowder Mill. The RSAF was originally all situated on the east side of the Lea, in the county of
Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
in Waltham Abbey parish, Sewardstone hamlet. The course of the river was diverted during the life of the factory, and ''part'' of the site then fell in Enfield parish. Local boundary changes initiated by SI 1993/1141 after it closed transferred the site entirely from Epping Forest (district) to the London Borough of Enfield. The original ambitious plans by Captain
John By Lieutenant-Colonel John By (7 August 1779 – 1 February 1836) was an English military engineer. He is best known for having supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal and for having founded Bytown in the process. It developed and was desi ...
included three mills. Later, the engineer John Rennie recommended the construction of a navigable leat. The leat was made, although only one mill with two
waterwheels A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...
was completed. In 1816 the barrel branch was transferred from
Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one ...
; and by 1818 the lock and finishing branches had been moved to the site, enabling the closure of the Lewisham factory. A
sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
-making department was set up in 1823.


The Crimean War

The factory fought off the threat of closure in 1831; and remained quite modest in size until the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
of 1853/1856, which resulted in vastly increased production. By 1856 a machine shop was built on
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
mass-production lines, using American machinery powered by steam engines. The shop was based on a design by
Sir John Anderson John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, (8 July 1882 – 4 January 1958) was a Scottish civil servant and politician who is best known for his service in the War Cabinet during the Second World War, for which he was nicknamed the "Home Front P ...
and built by the Royal Engineers. The workforce increased to 1000, and by 1860 an average of 1,744 rifles were produced per week. In 1866 another major expansion took place, when the watermill gave way to steampower. The total number of steam engines grew to sixteen; and by 1887 there were 2,400 employees.


Sparkbrook

On the liquidation of the National Arms and Ammunition Company in 1887 a number of workshops at
Sparkbrook Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council. Etymology The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that f ...
were purchased and named Royal Small Arms Factory, Sparkbrook. There were also repair operations in Birmingham. On 1 March 1893 there were 2,025 employees at Enfield and 664 at Sparkbrook, the Sparkbrook number having been reduced by ten per cent in the previous six months. The following year repair work was moved from Bagot Street to Sparkbrook but in 1905 manufacture at Sparkbrook was ended and the factory acquired by BSA in early 1906. Production of the new model rifle designed by James Paris Lee began in 1889. The famous
Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's sta ...
rifle was designed in 1895.


20th century

The factory expanded again in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
; and in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Two other Royal Ordnance Factories were set up in World War II to manufacture rifles designed at RSAF Enfield, and hence to increase arms output in areas less vulnerable to bombing: ROF Fazakerley and ROF Maltby. Both of these have long been closed. Decline set in after World War II; and in 1963 half the site was closed. The Royal Small Arms Factory was privatised in 1984 along with a number of Royal Ordnance Factories to become part of Royal Ordnance Plc; and was later bought by
British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
(BAe). They closed the site in 1988.


The significance of RSAF Enfield

The factory was set up because of disappointment with the poor quality and high cost of the existing British weapons used in the Napoleonic Wars. At this time in Britain, individual components were made mainly in the
Gun Quarter, Birmingham The Gun Quarter is a district of the city of Birmingham, England, which was for many years a centre of the world's gun-manufacturing industry, specialising in the production of military firearms and sporting guns. It is an industrial area to the ...
by a number of independent manufacturers and then hand-assembled to produce muskets. These component makers eventually combined to become the
Birmingham Small Arms Company The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and ...
. The Enfield factory was intended to improve the quality and to drive down costs.


Weapons designed / built at RSAF Enfield

Almost all the weapons in which the Royal Small Arms Factory had a hand in design or production carry either the word Enfield or the letters EN in their name; * Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket which used the Minié ball ammunition. * Snider–Enfield Rifle: an 1866 breech-loading version of the 1853 Enfield. * Martini–Henry Rifle: breech-loading lever activated rifle, manufactured from 1871 to 1891. * Enfield revolver: standard issue sidearms, two main versions from 1880 to 1957. *
Martini–Enfield Martini–Enfield rifles were, by and large, conversions of the Zulu War era .577/450 Martini–Henry, rechambering the rifle for use with the newly introduced .303 British cartridge. Whilst most Martini–Enfields were converted rifles, a number ...
: a conversion of the Martini–Henry rifle to
.303 .303 may refer to: * .303 British, a rifle cartridge * .303 Savage, a rifle cartridge * Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the B ...
calibre, from 1895. *
Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's sta ...
rifles - using the
Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...
bolt action. There were 13 variants from 1895 to 1957. * Pattern 1913 Enfield
.276 Enfield The .276 Enfield (7×60mm) was an experimental rebated rim bottlenecked centerfire military rifle cartridge developed in conjunction with the Pattern 1913 Enfield (P'13) rifle. Development was discontinued by the onset of World War I. Histo ...
experimental rifle, 1913 * Pattern 1914 Enfield Rifle: intended as a Lee–Enfield replacement, mainly used by snipers in World War I. *
Bren The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also use ...
(Brno + Enfield), .303
Light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the ...
from 1935 onwards. * Sten (Shepherd, Turpin + Enfield) 9mm
Sub-machine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an automat ...
from 1941 to 1953 * Polsten low cost version of 20 mm Oerlikon (acknowledging two Polish designers + Sten (= Shepherd, Turpin + Enfield)), from 1944. * Taden gun: .280 calibre experimental machine gun, 1951. * EM-1: .280 calibre
bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, more compact, conce ...
design experimental assault rifle, 1951. * EM-2: .280 calibre
bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, more compact, conce ...
design experimental assault rifle, 1951. *
ADEN cannon The Royal Small Arms Factory ADEN cannon (ADEN being an acronym for "Armament Development, Enfield") is a 30 mm revolver cannon used on many military aircraft, particularly those of the British Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm. Developed po ...
(
Armament Development Establishment Fort Halstead was a research site of Dstl, an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of London. Originally constructed in 1892 as part ...
+ Enfield): 30 mm revolver cannon for aircraft use, entered service in 1954. *
L1A1 SLR The L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle, officially "Rifle, 7.62mm, L1A1", also known just as the SLR (Self-Loading Rifle), by the Canadian Army designation C1A1 (C1) or in the US as the "inch pattern" FAL,Especially on the American surplus market. is a Br ...
, a British FN FAL derivative
7.62 mm The 7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the imperial unit and customary unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for i ...
Self Loading Rifle, from 1954. * L42A1, a rebuilt and re-chambered conversion of the Lee–Enfield Rifle No 4 into a 7.62mm sniper rifle; entered service in 1970. *
RARDEN The L21A1 RARDEN ("Royal Armament, Research and Development Establishment" and "Enfield") is a British 30 mm autocannon used as a combat vehicle weapon. The Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) and the Royal Small Arm ...
cannon, (Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment + Enfield): 30mm autocannon for light armoured vehicles, entered service in 1971. * ARWEN 37, (Anti Riot Weapon ENfield): a less lethal 37mm launcher with a rifled barrel to ensure accuracy, designed to be used in crowd control situations. * SA80 (L85) assault rifle, from 1987. ''For weapons manufactured at Enfield before 1853, see British military rifles#Early Enfield rifles'' The RSAF, Enfield, was famous for its Pattern Room which was a collection, or master set, of every
weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
made at RSAF Enfield.(N/A) (1973). "Preservation: Royal Small Arms Pattern Room". In: ''
After the Battle ''After the Battle'' was a military history magazine published quarterly in the United Kingdom by Battle of Britain International Limited between 1973 and 2021. History and profile ''After the Battle'' was first published in 1973, and appear ...
'', 2, (Pages 42 - 43). .
After closure this collection was moved to ROF Nottingham; which has since closed. The collection is now held at the Royal Armouries Museum,
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
.


Closure and reuse of the site

Local government boundary changes meant that the majority of the site was now within the London Borough of Enfield. The necessary outline planning permissions were obtained for site redevelopment; making closure of the site attractive to its new owners. Closure was announced on 12 August 1987, shortly after privatisation as Royal Ordnance, and the site closed in 1988; the machinery was
auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...
ed off in November 1988. BAe then formed a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with the property company Trafalgar House to redevelop the site. The majority of the site is now covered by a large housing development called Enfield Island Village. The original machine shop frontage and the older part of the rear structure has been retained and was converted into workshops and retail units by the Enfield Enterprise Agency, making use of
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
(ERDF) funding. The buildings also house the RSAF Interpretation centre which can be viewed by appointment only. ''The Rifles''
public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
originally known as the ''Royal Small Arms Tavern'' was compulsorily purchased by the government at the time of the First World War.Google books
Retrieved 15 September 2015
It closed down in 2004 after a large fire damaged the structure. The partially destroyed building is currently standing (2015). Other pubs which had been built for local works remain standing including The Greyhound just west of the River Lea and The Plough in Sewardstone.


Community

By 1895, the community had long had its own school (demolished), but it now also had a church (demolished in the 1920s), police station—with three sergeants and nine constables in 1902—and a fire brigade which was manned by one professional and 32 amateurs. Housing conditions in the mid 19th century were poor in the area. The extant Government Row a
terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...
of cottages was built between two watercourses to house some of the factory's workers. Several
public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
were opened close to the complex including ''The Royal Small Arms Tavern'' renamed ''Rifles'' in the late 20th century, ''The Greyhound'', ''Ordnance Arms'' and ''The Plough'' and the latter two still survive (2021) and the brewers Truman & Hanbury became responsible for the catering within the factory.Godfrey A (notes to) ''Old Ordnance Survey Maps: Enfield Lock 1895'' Alan Godfrey Maps, Retrieved 14 October 2009 There is still evidence of the factory to be found in the immediate area such as pill boxes, bridges and original buildings on the site such as the police house.


References


Further reading

* Cherry, Bridget and
Pevsner, Nikolaus Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (19 ...
. ''Buildings of England: London 4: North''. Pp 452–3 & 45. . * Hay, Ian (Maj.Gen. John Hay Beith, CBE, MC) (1949). ''R.O.F. The Story of the Royal Ordnance Factories, 1939-1948''. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. * Putman, T. and Weinbren, D. (1992). ''A Short History of the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield'', Centre for Applied Historical Studies, Middlesex University.


External links


Great British Railway Journeys
{{Authority control Firearm manufacturers of the United Kingdom Government munitions production in the United Kingdom Enfield, London History of the London Borough of Enfield Military history of London Military history of Middlesex Middlesex Small Arms Factory 1812 establishments in England Privately held companies of the United Kingdom