Caerwent Training Area, previously Caerwent Royal Navy Propellant Factory

Built in 1939, this massive site was used for the production of nitroglycerine, nitorocellulose, Tetryl and cordite for the Royal Navy. Now an MOD training area, it's also available as a film location. Some buildings have been partially demolished by training area activities, and there are many spent (blank) cartridge cases and practice grenades scattered about the site. Great history on Caerwent community history website www.caerwentcom.com Recced for location use June 2008.

Interior magazine building converted from nitrocellulose production building


General view of process building and air-raid shelter mound


Renewed doors to storage building


Interior process building


entrance to air-raid shelter


Exterior process building type 1


Exterior process building unknown type


Lampost









Interior nitrocellulose production building showing connecting passageway





Exterior nitrocellulose building converted to magazine


Demolished look-out tower and bunker





Interior nitorcellulose building (floor covered in sheep droppings)


Nitrocellulose building connecting corridor





Interior process or magazine building - note the instructions board indicating magazine status







Shifting house or changing room












frangible roof


frangible windows

Nice pics & thanks for sharing. That is indeed a huge site. Was there much underground stuff to be found?

re Caerwent

not anything that I could access - all the air-raid shelters were blocked off, and some of the site was demolished back in the 70's or 80's to make way for the US munitions store that was sited here until 1992.

It's a fantastic site none-the-less, and the history of all the ROF's and other places like this is fascinating. The people who worked here - and I've spoken to a few of them, were part of a little known workforce and workplace culture, and deserve recognition for their contribution to the war effort.

Did you have a look at the live, stuff and the new rail line on the east side of the base? We never found the underground stuff but always gone in the dark.

Great explore,and great pics.
I love the"in case of fire sign in a building full of explosives, I can just see it now. "hey guys I see we have a fire over there.... guys..guys?? where did everybody go?

Yep....Its a great site ain't it ?
I had a steady wander around there a few years ago and thought I'd seen most of it.....................until i looked it up on 'Wikimapia'...then you realise it is really massive and I hadn't seen probably a quarter of it...are there still loads of spent shell cases lying about the floor in the buildings?............and is there still a sort of scrapyard operation breaking up old railways carriages in there too????
A good mate of mine who served with a certain unit of the British Army had a spell on 'special security duty' there during the first Gulf War............apparently the US had a discreet stack of Cruise Missiles stored in some of the buildings .....

Yeah we have spent a couple of 8 hour stints int here, last time we were in there we found the newly built rail line and the new platform, not quite sure what they are doing but have seen black trains coming and going, we know there are specials using the area, and told that the cadets also use it, filming for torchwood and Dr who in there too.

We did a recce on this last month, but on the sunday we chose, they decided to hold a rally on the area so it was swarming with marshalls and rally cars, mmmmmm rally cars.

So we did a circuit of the perimiter fence and watched them race instead. The place looks huge from google maps and rally interesting from what we could see from the fence.

We will have to visit this again soonest for a proper go.

Yeah, if anyone wants to have a visit, ill be up for going in again. I always seem to be back and for this site.

.are there still loads of spent shell cases lying about the floor in the buildings?............and is there still a sort of scrapyard operation breaking up old railways carriages in there too????

Yep - the place is full of cases. There is still a scrapyard, and the place is in constant use as a training area. It's huge!

South Wales was home to some of the largest factories ever built, including ROF 47 at Bridgend, which at it's peak employed over 29000 people, 70% women - it's an industrial estate now, but some evidence remains - see Brackla x8. Most of the ROF's have gone now

Yeah, one of the others that was with me picked up a complete belt of unused ammo blanks that were there, but you go up on the roofs of the old signal box and the main station and then is hundreds just pilled up.

Don't think there's anything particularly secret going on in there, but the forces do use some of the buildings to practice explosive demolition techniques, so not too brilliant in risk assessment terms!

No its nothing secret, we know 22 reg are in there on a regular basis, and if you go down to the live office and the new buildings, you can see the visitor books through the window and it tells you who is coming and going, plus you got wormtec up on the north eastern side as well making lots of noise and mess.

Great find! Looks very similar to Holton Heath Royal Naval Cordite Factory down by me in Dorset, they used to produce all the same propellants that you mentioned and some of the buildings are the same sort of design!

Nice looking place.

Great find! Looks very similar to Holton Heath Royal Naval Cordite Factory down by me in Dorset, they used to produce all the same propellants that you mentioned and some of the buildings are the same sort of design!

According to the history of the site, it was closely based upon Holton Heath, and many of the original staff came from there - any pics available?

JHML1 said:

Great find! Looks very similar to Holton Heath Royal Naval Cordite Factory down by me in Dorset, they used to produce all the same propellants that you mentioned and some of the buildings are the same sort of design!

According to the history of the site, it was closely based upon Holton Heath, and many of the original staff came from there - any pics available?

Click to expand...

Ah so thats where it all went!!

There are a few buildings left there but you really have to dig around for them, the rest of the site is either being used by other companys now (Engineering/boat building i think) or has been flattened. Some are still there and i believe that the series "Bad lads Army" was filmed on the part that is still in use by the mod.

Heres a post from the site

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=9854&highlight=holton+heath

I have many more pics from recent visits but have not had the chance to go through them all and add to the post.

Here is also a good site with a great gallery of old pics!

http://www.corfe-castle.demon.co.uk/hh.html/

I used to have a map of the area, but I can't seem to find it now. My old cadet detachment had a yearly camp here.

There is a airsoft area which is pretty fun - Not much of an explore there though. The trains are quiet interesting though.