It was located south of the town of Bedford, between the villages of Elstow and Wilstead in Bedfordshire.
It had 250 buildings and the site does not appear on Ordnance Survey maps made during wartime or in the postwar period.
On the site a small platform called "Wilshamstead" was built to accommodate workmen's trains which ran from Bedford from 6 August 1941 (and Luton from 6 October 1941) until May 1946.
The Cordite Group opened in June 1942 and closed in May 1943; it was then employed to recondition shells.
In the process of applying for planning permission for the Wixams development, a survey of the site was carried out which included interviews with former workers.