ROF Thorp Arch was one of sixteen

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

-owned Royal Ordnance Factory, which produced

munition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

s by "filling" them. It was a medium-sized filling factory (Filling Factory No. 9). It was located on the banks of the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

, north-east of the two villages of Boston Spa and Thorp Arch; and south-east of the town of Wetherby,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Design and production

War time

The Royal Ordnance Factory was constructed for the Ministry of Supply, with the Ministry of Works acting as agents. The site was connected to the London & North Eastern Railway line, which was used in its construction and then for supplying raw materials to the factory and for transporting away filled munitions. Construction work on Thorp Arch began on 18 May 1940 and the completion date was scheduled for the end of July 1941. The site was divided into a number of separate Filling Groups which occupied different areas of the site and were devoted to filling specific type of ammunition. It produced munitions for both the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. It is believed to have had 619 buildings. In the Second World War it produced light gun ammunition, medium gun ammunition, heavy ammunition,

land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

s and trench mortar ammunition for the Army; medium and large

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

s for the RAF; and, 20 mm and other

small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

for all three services. Some of these were produced in quantities measured in millions and hundreds of millions of items.

Post-war

ROF Thorp Arch closed down twice: firstly, after the end of the Second World War; and then finally, in April 1958 four years after the end of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, as a result of planned cuts in the British Army published in the

1957 Defence White Paper The 1957 White Paper on Defence (Cmnd. 124) was a British white paper issued in March 1957 setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected wa ...

Current use

Part of the site is now in use as the Thorp Arch Trading Estate. Other parts are used to house the Northern Reading Room, Northern Listening Service and Document Supply Centre of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. Another part is a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

, originally HMP Thorp Arch, now

HMP Wealstun HM Prison Wealstun is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category C men's prison, located near the village of Thorp Arch (village), Thorp Arch in West Yorkshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. ...

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

* The ROF site has been described in detail in two articles by Mike Christensen, illustrated with official photographs taken whilst it was still open.
Location MapAerial viewThorp Arch Trading Estate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorp Arch Filling factories Royal Ordnance Factories in England