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

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

ish

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills ...

, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Originally constructed in 1892 as part of a ring of fortresses around London, Fort Halstead was to be staffed by volunteers in the event of a crisis. The base became home to the Projectile Development Establishment, the Ministry of Supply and later was the headquarters of the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE).

Design and construction

Fort Halstead formed a part of the London Defence Positions, a scheme devised by

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Edward Bruce Hamley and implemented by the

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

, Edward Stanhope, who announced the plan to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

in 1889. The scheme envisaged a line of entrenchments which would be dug in the event of war to protect the southern and eastern approaches to the capital. Supporting these were to be thirteen simple

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s, known as "Mobilisation Centres", which would contain the tools, stores and ammunition for the men of the Volunteer Force, who were tasked with digging the entrenchments and manning them against any invaders. Putting these plans into action in 1890, the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

purchased land at Halstead, Kent, on high ground near the town of Sevenoaks. Delayed by a shortage of funds, the

polygonal fort A polygonal fort is a type of fortification originating in France in the late 18th century and fully developed in Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Unlike earlier forts, polygonal forts had no bastions, which had proved to be vulnerab ...

was constructed between 1895 and 1897; it featured vaulted barrack casemates on the west side and a magazine on the east. An earthen

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

with positions for light

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20 ...

pieces and

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifl ...

s was surrounded by a

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches a ...

with a concrete

revetment A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water a ...

on the

scarp Scarp may refer to: Landforms and geology * Cliff, a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure * Escarpment, a steep slope or long rock that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevatio ...

face. A

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide s ...

was built for a caretaker, who was responsible for maintenance and security in peacetime.

History as a defensive work

The growing superiority of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, and the signing of The Entente Cordiale with France, resulted in the reduced likelihood of an invasion and the London Defence Scheme was officially abandoned in March 1906. Many of the Mobilisation Centres were quickly sold; however, Fort Halstead and a few others were retained, perhaps to facilitate the dispersal of the stores removed from the other sites. After the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, the London Defence Scheme was revived and many of the planned entrenchments were actually dug to form an inland stop line. Fort Halstead seems to have reverted to its intended role at this time; in 1915, a laboratory was built inside the fort for the inspection of ammunition. In 1921, the fort was sold to a retired

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

, who took up residence in the laboratory and let out the cottages. The rest of the site was used as a campsite for the Territorial Army,

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

, and accommodation of refugees.

Rocket research

In 1938, Fort Halstead became the home of the Projectile Development Establishment, which was continuing work on

solid fuelled rocket A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used in warfare by the Arabs, Chinese, Persians ...

s that had started at Woolwich two years earlier. Under the direction of Dr

Alwyn Crow Sir Alwyn Douglas Crow (10 May 1894 – 5 February 1965) was a British scientist involved in research into ballistics, projectiles and missiles from 1916 to 1953. At Fort Halstead he developed the Unrotated Projectile an antiaircraft weapon for ...

, work was mainly on rockets that could be used as anti-aircraft weapons. In connection with this research, over eighty new buildings were constructed in and around the fort. The work at Halstead resulted in the 7-inch

Unrotated Projectile The Unrotated Projectile (UP) was a British anti-aircraft and ground-bombardment rocket of the Second World War. A 7-inch version was developed for the Royal Navy by Alwyn Crow of the Projectile Development Establishment of the Ministry of Supp ...

used on ships of the Royal Navy, and a 3-inch version that was operated by the British Army in hundreds of Z Batteries for the air defence of the United Kingdom. Further developments were the RP-3 air-to-surface anti-tank rocket and the

Mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, con ...

and Land Mattress surface-to-surface bombardment systems.Bishop, Chris (2002)
''The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II''
Metrobooks, (p. 176)

History of RARDE

Two departments, the "Research Department" and the "Design Department", were established in 1922 at Woolwich Arsenal. During the Second World War, the Design Department moved to Fort Halstead, followed by the Research Department. It is believed that Britain's development of the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

, hidden under the name High Explosive Research ("HER") was initially based at Fort Halstead, where the first atomic bomb was developed under the directorship of William George Penney, who had been appointed Chief Superintendent Armament Research ("CSAR", called ''"Caesar"'') by C. P. Snow. ''

Operation Hurricane Operation Hurricane was the first test of a British atomic device. A plutonium implosion device was detonated on 3 October 1952 in Main Bay, Trimouille Island, in the Montebello Islands in Western Australia. With the success of Operation H ...

'' saw the bomb conveyed by frigate to Australia and successfully exploded in the Montebello Islands. In 1950, it is thought that the "HER" research was moved to a new site at Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

. In 1955, the two departments were merged to give the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), which was granted the title "Royal" in February 1962. In the 1980s, RARDE was amalgamated with the Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment (MVEE) – formerly the Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE) – with sites at

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in ...

and

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, and the

Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment, usually known for brevity as ''PERME'', operated at two sites: * Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, known from 1977 as ''PERME Waltham Abbey'' * Rocket Propulsion Establishment established at ...

based at Waltham Abbey and Westcott. Following the December 1988 Lockerbie bombing,

forensic Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimin ...

experts from RARDE's explosives laboratory examined material recovered from the crash scene, and subsequently testified as

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge ...

es at the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial. In 1996, the bus from the Aldwych bus bombing was taken to Fort Halstead for analysis, where previously a number of IRA explosive devices had been examined. RARDE was home to a number of

military simulation Military simulations, also known informally as war games, are simulations in which theories of warfare can be tested and refined without the need for actual hostilities. Military simulations are seen as a useful way to develop tactical, strate ...

and war game projects, mainly aimed as assessing the effectiveness of future defence equipment procurement. After Iraq's

invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...

and throughout the latter half of 1990, a series of computerised war games were conducted at RARDE in preparation for Operation Granby, Britain's contribution to the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. In 2017, scientists from the Forensic Explosives Laboratory at Fort Halstead examined the wreckage of the aircraft from the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash, for traces of explosives, after being engaged by the Polish government.

Evolution to DERA

On 1 April 1991, the Defence Research Agency (DRA) was set up by bringing together Royal Aerospace Establishment (RAE),

Admiralty Research Establishment The Admiralty Research Establishment (commonly known as ARE) was formed on 1 April 1984 from various Admiralty establishments. It became part of the Defence Research Agency on 1 April 1991. Constituent parts on formation * Admiralty Surface W ...

(ARE), RARDE, and the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE). It was an executive Agency of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

. Four years later, when DRA was itself merged to form the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), the forensic explosives laboratory came under media and scientific scrutiny. In 1996, amid allegations that contaminated equipment had been used in the testing of forensic evidence, an inquiry was set up under Professor Brian Caddy of

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal c ...

to investigate the laboratory's alleged shortcomings.

Dstl and QinetiQ

Following the split of DERA in 2001 into QinetiQ and Dstl, the Fort Halstead site was retained by QinetiQ who leased part of it back to Dstl. Its most recent principal functions have been research, test, evaluation and forensic analysis into explosives, and the site's explosives laboratory was again used in the investigation following the attempted 21 July 2005 London bombings. The facility has been the largest employer in the Sevenoaks district, with 1,300 personnel working on the site in 2000. In March 2006, QinetiQ sold the Fort Halstead site to Armstrong Kent LLP for an undisclosed sum, remaining on-site as a tenant. In June 2011, Dstl announced that its facilities at Fort Halstead were to close following a review of operations at the site, although delays in building new facilities at Porton Down has meant Dstl finally left in October 2022 (taking eleven rather than the planned five years). In 2017, Armstrong Kent sold the site to Merseyside Pension Fund. Current plans are for a mix-use regeneration, with 450 new homes and a business campus, including QinetiQ.

Distinguished former staff

* Richard, Baron Beeching of East Grinstead, "Dr Beeching", author of the report ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' * Sir Alwyn Crow, developer of the

* Sir Frank Ewart Smith * Dr Douglas Hartree,Mary Croarken
''Computing in Britain During World War II''
IEE.org. p6. Retrieved 12-05-2009. after whom the Hartree unit of atomic energy is named, and the

Hartree–Fock method In computational physics and chemistry, the Hartree–Fock (HF) method is a method of approximation for the determination of the wave function and the energy of a quantum many-body system in a stationary state. The Hartree–Fock method ofte ...

of approximating n-body wavefunctions *

Sir John Lennard-Jones Sir John Edward Lennard-Jones (27 October 1894 – 1 November 1954) was a British mathematician and professor of theoretical physics at the University of Bristol, and then of theoretical science at the University of Cambridge. He was an ...

, devisor of the Lennard-Jones potential description of atomic attraction *Dr J.W. Maccoll, of Taylor-Maccoll theory of supersonic flow over a cone * Sir Nevill Mott, Nobel Laureate in Physics * William, Baron Penney of East Hendred,Our History
AWE. Retrieved 12-05-2009. a principal scientist on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

, and leader of Britain's High Explosive Research project * Dick Strawbridge, engineer, environmentalist and broadcaster

References

General

*Hamilton-Baillie, J.R.E, "Fort Halstead & the London Defence Positions", ''Fort'' ( Fortress Study Group), 1977, (3), pp31–35

External links

Comprehensive historical review
by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

RARDE's Alan FeradayDstl – Defence Science and Technology LaboratoryFort Halstead Aerial Photograph
(Microsoft Live Maps)
Fort Halstead: preserving the history of British defence research and developmentFriends of Fort Halstead
{{authority control 19th-century forts in England Forts in Kent Buildings and structures in Sevenoaks Fortifications of London Research institutes in Kent Research installations of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Military installations established in 1897 1897 establishments in England