The factory, classified as a Medium Machine Shop,[clarification needed] was situated adjacent to both the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and the Bridgewater Canal.
It had stopped manufacturing locomotives in 1938, but continued on a smaller scale making steam hammers and machine tools until the company ceased trading in November 1940.
Staff from the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, acted as agents for the Ministry of Supply in taking over the site, and it reopened as an ROF in February 1941.
Patricroft also had capabilities in advanced flow forming, Electro Slag Refining (ESR) and vertical forging of Chieftain tank gun barrels.
Shortly afterwards, in 1988 and 1989, respectively, both the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, London, and the Patricroft site were closed down and sold off for redevelopment.