ROF Chorley

The factory had a storage depot built deep into the Pennine hills, over Chorley, in the village of Heapey; the facility is still in use by BAE although its exact usage has still not been revealed.

[1][2] In the late 1930s leading up to the outbreak of war in 1939, the British government developed a strategy to enhance the capacity of the existing three Royal factories and to disperse armaments and munitions production away from major cities and the southeast part of England which were felt to be especially vulnerable to bombing from the air.

In all some 20 Government-owned World War II Filling Factories were built, but none was so large or employed as many people as these two.

The design, style, and spacing of individual production buildings meant that they were separated by wide-open spaces, or, depending on the application, approximately 20 feet (6 m) high grassed embankments and extremely thick reinforced concrete walls and overbridges, called traverses.

The site was built with extensive underground magazines, comprehensive lightning protection, and individual buildings linked by paths, roads, and railways.The 928-acre (376 ha) site, which was built between Euxton and the town of Leyland, had a 9 mile (approximately 14.5 kilometer ) perimeter fence which until privatisation was guarded by what was to become the Ministry of Defence Police (MOD Police) Force.

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway, from Manchester Victoria to Preston, via Bolton and Euxton junction, with stations at Chorley and Leyland, cut the ROF site into two areas.

The railway line, particularly the station, was separated from the ROF by brick boundary walls some 20 foot (6 meters) high along each side.

After privatization the road over the railway line was little used and separate entrances, i.e. the Leyland gate and the Euxton gatehouse, were used for the two sites.

One mount that once held the gun with a pillbox was found in Lucas Green near Whittle-le-Woods, refurbished as part of new housing in 2017.

More recent editions of the maps show the detail of the buildings, road and rail links, labeled simply as "Works".

After privatization, the headquarters of Royal Ordnance plc was moved to ROF Chorley and was accommodated in a new office block on the "administration site" created out of a former warehouse.

In 2000 the Royal Ordnance headquarters function was transferred to BAE System's Filton, Bristol site and more recently to Glascoed in Monmouthshire.