Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2012-09-09T14:23:43Z

Pyrotec: Reverted edits by 176.26.48.140 (talk) to last version by ClueBot NG

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The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military [[accident]] which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, 27 November 1944 at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot. The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.

Between 3,500 and 4,000 [[tonne]]s of [[Ammunition#Ordnance ammunition|ordnance]] exploded — mostly comprising [[high explosive]] (HE)-filled [[bomb]]s, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million [[Cartridge (firearms)|rounds]] of [[rifle]] [[ammunition]]. The resulting [[explosion crater|crater]] was 120 metres (400 ft) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 cubic metres of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete [[farm]]. [[Flooding]] caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''[[After the Battle]]'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. [[ISSN|ISSN 0306-154X]].</ref>

The exact death toll is uncertain; it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion.

==Cause==
[[File:Fauld crater.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Aerial view of the crater and damage to the surrounding area caused by the explosion.|Aerial view of the crater and damage to the surrounding area caused by the explosion.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. However, there had been staff shortages, a management position that had remained empty for a year, and 194 inexperienced Italian [[POW]]s were working in the mines at the time of the accident. In 1974, it was officially announced that the cause of the explosion was probably a site worker removing a [[detonator]] from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. An eye witness testified that he had seen a worker using brass chisels in defiance of the strict regulations in force.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/98/a6370698.shtml |title=WW2 People's War - War Memories - with a song and dance and a huge explosion |publisher=BBC |date= |accessdate=2011-09-12}}</ref>

Two huge explosions were witnessed at RAF No. 21 M.U. Bomb Storage dump on 27 November 1944 at 11.15 hours. Eye witnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a [[mushroom cloud]] ascending several thousand feet, and saw a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the [[Commanding Officer]] of M.U. 21 ([[Group Captain]] Storer) an open dump of [[incendiary bomb]]s caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties.
Property was damaged within a radius of 3/4 miles of the crater.<ref name="mhs">Ministry of Home Security report File RE. 5/5i region IX.</ref>

Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for {{convert|1420|yd}}. Upper Castle Hayes Farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Fordes [[Lime (material)|Lime]] and [[Gypsum]] works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the destruction of the reservoir dam and the subsequent release of water into the works. Hanbury Fields Farm, Hare Holes Farm and also Croft Farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was some 900 by {{convert|700|ft|m}} in length and {{convert|380|ft|m}} deep covering 12 [[acre]]s. Approximately one third of the RAF dump exploded, an area of 65000 square yards, but barriers of rock pillars between No. 3 and No. 4 sections held and prevented the other munition storage areas from exploding in a chain reaction. Damage from earth shock extended as far as [[Burton-upon-Trent]].

==Casualties==
At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So while the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion. The official report said 90 were killed, missing, or injured,<ref>File no RE5/5 region IX, now held by [[The National Archives]] as [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/externalrequest.asp?requestreference=AIR17/10 AIR 17/10]</ref><ref name="mhs"/> including:

* 26 killed or missing at the RAF dump — divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there — 5 of whom were gassed by toxic fumes, also 10 severely injured.
* 42 killed or missing at Messrs Fordes and sons, a nearby [[plaster]] mill, and surrounding countryside, also 12 injured.
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

Also 200 [[cattle]] were killed by the explosion. A number of live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.<ref name="mhs"/>

==Aftermath==
While much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munitions storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> Following France's withdrawal from [[NATO]]'s integrated military structure in 1966,<ref>{{cite web |title= Member countries |url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_52044.htm#About |publisher=NATO |date= 9 July 2009 |accessdate= 15 July 2009}}</ref> the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/>

Burton on Trent library has a complete documented file on the explosion.

By 1979 the site was fenced off and since then nature has taken over, with the area covered with over 150 species of trees and wildlife. The area is restricted as a significant amount of explosives are still buried deep in the site; the UK government has deemed their removal unfeasible on the grounds of cost.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bell|first=David|title=Staffordshire Tales of Murder & Mystery|publisher=Countryside Books|date=2005|series=Murder & Mystery|page=78|chapter=8|isbn=1-85306-922-1|accessdate=07/01/2009}}</ref>

No. 21 MU was the subject of a number of paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by artist [[David Bomberg]]. He was briefly employed as a [[war artist]] by the War Ministry in 1943, and this is fully documented by Richard Cork in his biography of Bomberg.

{|
| [[File:raffauld.JPG|thumb|alt=Sign at the explosion site, giving details of the event|Sign at the explosion site, giving details of the event.]]
| [[File:RAF Fauld Explosion memorial.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Memorial to the victims at the National Memorial Arboretum. This gives the number of victims as 70.|Memorial to the victims at the [[National Memorial Arboretum]]. This gives the number of victims as 70.]]
| [[File:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|alt=Sign warning of unexploded munitions and hazard posed by the crater.|Sign warning of unexploded munitions and hazard posed by the crater.]]
|}

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]
*[[RAF munitions storage during WWII]]

==References==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

==Further reading==
* "Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. [[ISSN|ISSN 0951-9726]].
* McCamley, N.J. (1998). ''Secret Underground Cities''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-585-3.
* McCamley, N.J. (2004). ''Disasters Underground''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-022-4.
* Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nwvx2 BBC Radio 4 Programme 'Open Country', The Hanbury Crater]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauld, RAF explosion}}
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:1944 in England]]
[[Category:20th-century explosions]]
[[Category:Explosions in England]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force during World War II]]
[[Category:Military history of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Disasters in Staffordshire]]
[[Category:1944 in military history]]

[[da:RAF Fauld-ulykken]]
[[sl:Eksplozija v skladišču orožja RAF 1944]]
[[fi:RAF Fauldin räjähdys]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2010-07-08T19:16:00Z

Pyrotec: Undid revision 372186504 by 82.36.129.101 (talk)

{{infobox UK feature
|official_name = RAF Fauld explosion
|shire_county/state = Staffordshire
|country = England
|label_position = auto
|nation = UK
|map_name = United Kingdom Staffordshire
|static_image =
|static_image_caption =
|static_image_alt =
|static_image_2 =
|static_image_2_caption =
|static_image_2_alt =
|os_grid_reference =
|irish_grid_reference =
|latitude = 52.847117
|longitude = -1.730608
}}
The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military [[accident]] which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, 27 November 1944 at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot. The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.

Between 3,450 and 3,930 [[ton]]s (3,500 and 4,000 [[tonne]]s) of [[Ammunition#Ordnance ammunition|ordnance]] exploded — mostly comprising [[high explosive]] (HE)-filled [[bomb]]s, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million [[Cartridge (firearms)|rounds]] of [[rifle]] [[ammunition]]. The resulting [[explosion crater|crater]] was 120 metres (400 [[foot (unit of length)|ft]]) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hanbury+hill&sll=52.853739,-1.726227&sspn=0.014253,0.038581&ie=UTF8&hq=hill&hnear=Hanbury,+Burton+upon+Trent,+UK&ll=52.856797,-1.725883&spn=0.028504,0.077162&t=h&z=14&iwloc=lyrftr:h,10315947575719406699,52.847105,-1.730604] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 [[cubic metre]]s of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete [[farm]]. [[Flooding]] caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''[[After The Battle]]'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. [[ISSN|ISSN 0306-154X]].</ref>

The exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion.

==Cause==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. There had been staff shortages, a management position had remained empty for a year and 194 inexperienced Italian [[POW]]s worked in the mines. In 1974, it was officially announced that the cause of the explosion was probably a site worker removing a [[detonator]] from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. An eye witness testified that he had seen a worker using brass chisels in defiance of the strict regulations in force.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/98/a6370698.shtml</ref>

Two huge explosions were witnessed at RAF No. 21 M.U. Bomb Storage dump on 27 November 1944 at 11.15 hours. Eye witnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a [[mushroom cloud]] ascending several thousand feet, and saw a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the [[Commanding Officer]] of M.U. 21 ([[Group Captain]] Storer) an open dump of [[incendiary bomb]]s caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties.
Property was damaged within a radius of 3/4 miles of the crater.<ref name="mhs">Ministry of Home Security report File RE. 5/5i region IX.</ref>

Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for {{convert|1420|yd}}. Upper Castle Hayes farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Fordes [[Lime (material)|Lime]] and [[Gypsum]] works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the destruction of the reservoir dam and the subsequent release of water into the works. Hanbury Fields farm, Hare Holes farm and also Croft farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was some 900 by {{convert|700|ft|m}} in length and {{convert|380|ft|m}} deep covering 12 [[acre]]s. Approximately one third of the RAF dump exploded, an area of 65000 square yards, but barriers of rock pillars between No. 3 and No. 4 sections held and prevented the other munition storage areas from exploding in a chain reaction. Damage from earth shock extended as far as [[Burton-upon-Trent]].

==Casualties==
[[File:RAF Fauld Explosion memorial.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Memorial to the victims, at the [[National Memorial Arboretum]]. This gives the number of victims as 70.]]

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So while the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion. The official report said 90 were killed, missing, or injured<ref>File no RE5/5 region IX, now held by [[The National Archives]] as [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/externalrequest.asp?requestreference=AIR17/10 AIR 17/10]</ref><ref name="mhs"/>, including:

* 26 killed or missing at the RAF dump — divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there — 5 of whom were gassed by toxic fumes, also 10 severely injured.
* 42 killed or missing at Messrs Fordes and sons, a nearby [[plaster]] mill, and surrounding countryside, also 12 injured.
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

Also 200 [[cattle]] were killed by the explosion, many having been blown to pieces. A number of live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.<ref name="mhs"/>

==Aftermath==
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|left|RAF Fauld sign.]]
While much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munitions storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> Following France's withdrawal from [[NATO]]'s integrated military structure in 1966,<ref>{{cite web |title= Member countries |url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_52044.htm#About |publisher=NATO |date= 9 July 2009 |access= 15 July 2009}}</ref> the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/>

Burton on Trent library has a complete documented file on the explosion.

By 1979 the site was fenced off and since then nature has taken over, with the area covered with over 150 species of trees and wildlife. The area is restricted as an extremely significant amount of explosives are still buried deep in the site which the UK government have deemed uneconomical to remove.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bell|first=David|title=Staffordshire Tales of Murder & Mystery|publisher=Countryside Books|date=2005|series=Murder & Mystery|pages=78|chapter=8|isbn=1 85306 922 1|accessdate=07/01/2009}}</ref>

No. 21 MU was the location of a number of paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by artist [[David Bomberg]]. He was briefly employed as a [[war artist]] by the War Ministry in 1943, and this is fully documented by Richard Cork in his biography of Bomberg.

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]
*[[RAF munitions storage during WWII]]

==References==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

==Further reading==
* "Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. [[ISSN|ISSN 0951-9726]].
* McCamley, N.J. (1998). ''Secret Underground Cities''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-585-3.
* McCamley, N.J. (2004). ''Disasters Underground''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-022-4.
* Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nwvx2 BBC Radio 4 Programme 'Open Country', The Hanbury Crater]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauld, RAF explosion}}
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:1944 in England]]
[[Category:20th-century explosions]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force during World War II]]
[[Category:Military history of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Disasters in Staffordshire]]

[[da:RAF Fauld-ulykken]]

Portsmouth Block Mills

2010-06-21T16:24:07Z

Pyrotec: Undid revision 369214890 by 98.203.198.37 (talk)

{{No footnotes|date=August 2009}}
The '''Portsmouth Block Mills''' form part of the [[Portsmouth Dockyard]] at [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]], and were built during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] to supply the British [[Royal Navy]] with [[pulley]] [[block (sailing)|block]]s. They started the age of [[mass-production]] using all-metal [[machine tool]]s and are regarded as one of the seminal buildings of the British [[Industrial Revolution]]. They are also the site of the first [[stationary steam engine]]s used by the [[Admiralty]].

Since 2003 [[English Heritage]] has been undertaking a detailed survey of the buildings and the records relating to the machines.

==Development of Portsmouth Dockyard==
The [[Royal Navy]] had evolved with [[United Kingdom|Britain]]'s development by the middle of the eighteenth century into what has been described as the greatest industrial power in the western world. The [[Admiralty]] and [[Navy Board]] began a programme of modernisation of dockyards at [[Portsmouth Dockyard|Portsmouth]] and [[Plymouth]] such that by the start of the war with Revolutionary France they possessed the most up-to-date fleet facilities in Europe.

The dock system at Portsmouth has its origins in the work of [[Edmund Dummer (naval engineer)|Edmund Dummer]] in the 1690s. He constructed a series of [[Dock (maritime)|basin]]s and wet and [[dry dock]]s.<ref>{{cite web |first= |last= |title=Portsmouth Royal Dockyard: History 1690–1840 |url=http://www.portsmouthdockyard.org.uk/Page%206.htm | work=Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust|publisher =www.portsmouthdockyard.org.uk|date= |accessdate=7 October 2009}}</ref> Alterations were made to these in the course of the eighteenth century. One of the basins had become redundant by 1770 and it was proposed to use this as a sump into which all the water from the other facilities could drain. The water was pumped out by a series of horse-operated [[chain pumps]].

In 1795, Brigadier-General Sir [[Samuel Bentham]] was appointed by the Admiralty, the only [[Inspector General of Naval Works]] with the task of continuing this modernisation, and in particular the introduction of steam power and mechanising the production processes in the dockyard. His office employed several specialists as his assistants — Mechanist ([[engineer]]), [[Draughtsman|Draughtsmen]], [[Architect]], [[Chemist]], [[Clerk (position)|Clerk]]s, and others. The Inspector General's office was responsible for the introduction at Portsmouth of plant for the rolling of [[copper]] plates for sheathing ship's [[Hull (watercraft)|hull]]s and for forging-mills for the production of metal parts used in the construction of vessels. They also introduced similar modernisation at the other Naval dockyards.

By 1797 work had started on building additional dry docks and on deepening the basins, and Bentham realised that the existing drainage system would not cope with the increased demand. He installed a steam engine designed by a member of his staff, [[James Sadler]], in 1798 which, as well as working the chain pumps, drove woodworking machinery and a pump to take water from a well round the dockyard for fire-fighting purposes. This well was some {{convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on}} away and the pumps operated by a horizontal reciprocating wooden spear housed in a tunnel running from the engine house to the top of the well. The Sadler engine was a house-built [[table engine]] installed in a single-storey engine house with integral boiler; it replaced one of the horse-drives to the chain pumps. This engine was replaced in 1807 in the same house by another, more powerful, table engine made by [[Matthew Murray|Fenton, Murray and Wood]] of [[Leeds]] and, in turn, in 1830 by a [[Maudslay]] beam engine.

In 1800 a [[Boulton and Watt]] beam engine was ordered as back-up and was housed in a three-storey engine house in line with the Sadler engine house. This engine was replaced in 1837 by another engine made by [[James Watt|James Watt and Co]].

Space was very tight and expansion of manufacturing facilities was not possible, so by 1802 the drainage basin was filled with two tiers of brick vaults — the lower layer to act as the reservoir, the upper layer as storage, and the roof of the latter being level with the surrounding land, so creating more space. This allowed the construction of two parallel ranges of three-storey wood mills, the southern to incorporate both engine houses and their chimney stacks, the chain pumps and some wood working machinery. The northern range was directly over the vaults and was to house more woodworking machinery. The buildings were designed by [[Samuel Bunce]], the architect of Bentham's staff.

While the vaults were under construction Bentham was ordering woodworking machinery of his own design, mostly up-and-down saws and circular saws. These were fitted-up in both ranges, the power to drive them being transmitted from the engines to the north range by underdrives through the upper layer of vaults, and then by vertical shafts to the upper floors of the buildings. The final drives to the machines was by flat belts running on pulleys.

This machinery was planned to cut timber for the numerous smaller parts used in shipbuilding, especially joinery, which had previously been cut by hand, such as components for tables and benches, as well as small turned goods like [[belaying pin]]s. There is evidence that he had developed a rotary wood-planing machine but details of this are obscure. There is also evidence that the complex housed a pipe boring machine, whereby straight elm trees were bored out for pump dales. These could be up to 40 ft long and were fitted through the decks of a vessel to pump seawater to the deck. There was a machine for making treenails — long wooden dowels used for fixing wooden parts of a ship together.

==Blocks==
[[Image:Bird on block.jpg|thumb|left|A wooden block]]
The Royal Navy used large numbers of [[block (sailing)|block]]s, which were all hand-made by contractors. Their quality was not consistent, the supply problematic and they were expensive. A typical ship of the line needed about 1000 blocks of different sizes, and in the course of the year the Navy required over 100,000. Bentham had devised some machines for making blocks, but did not develop them and details of how they worked are now obscure. In 1802 [[Marc Isambard Brunel]] proposed to the Admiralty a system of making blocks using machinery he had [[patent]]ed. Bentham appreciated the superiority of Brunel's system and in August 1802 he was authorised by the Admiralty to proceed.

There were three series of block-making machines, each designed to make a range of block sizes. They were laid out to allow a production line, so each stage of the work progressed to the next in a natural flow. The yard between the two wood mill buildings was walled-off and roofed to form a new workshop to house the block-making machines.

The first set, for medium blocks, was installed in January 1803, the second set for smaller blocks in May 1803, and the third set for large blocks in March 1805. There were numerous changes of layout and some modification of the plant until in September 1807 the plant was felt able to fulfil all the needs of the Navy: In 1808 130,000 blocks were produced.

==The block-making processes using the machines==
A pulley-block has four parts: the shell, the sheave, the pin for locating the latter in the shell and a metal [[Bush (mechanical)|bush]], or coak, inserted into the sheave to save wear between it and the pin. Blocks can vary in size and in the number of sheaves.

'''The process of making the shells'''
* Cut slices from the trunk of a tree, and from these slices by means of the [[circular saw]]s cut rectangular blocks from which the shells were manufactured.
* Bore a hole in the block for the pin, and at right angles to this a hole or holes to receive the morticing chisels,(depending on the number of mortices). The clamp used to hold the block at the same time indented locating points by which the blocks were secured in the later machines, thus ensuring consistent location and measurement in the subsequent processes.
* Mortice the blocks by a self-acting machine. The morticing chisel reciprocated vertically, and at the same time the vice gripping the block was gradually moved each cut. Once the length of the mortice had been cut the machine automatically stopped to allow the block to be replaced with a new one.
* Cut the corners off the block by a circular saw with angled guides.
* Shape the 4 faces of the blocks to a shallow curve. This was done by a machine where a number of blocks were clamped in the periphery of a revolving wheel. The cutter was swept in a curve across the faces of the blocks as they rotated. The radius of the curve was controlled by a former. After each cut the blocks were turned 90 degrees to bring up a new face.
* Each block was then placed in a machine which scored a shallow groove, by means of a revolving cutter, to give a location for the securing ropes.

'''The process of making the sheaves'''
* Cut a slice across a trunk of [[Lignum Vitae]]. The machine for this allowed the log to be rotated at the same time as the circular saw operated, ensuring that an equal thickness was maintained. The position of the log for each new cut was controlled by a leadscrew ensuring great accuracy.
* Make a circular disc from this slice by means of a rounding saw, which simultaneously bored out the middle and shaped the outer edge.
* Mill out from each face a profile to take the outer face of the coak
* The coak was inserted into the sheave, and a retaining ring [[rivet]]ted to keep it in place.
* [[Broach (metalworking)|Broach]] out the hole in the coak to the size of the requisite pin.
* The finished sheave was faced-off on both sides in a special lathe, and the rope groove was machined on the edge.

'''The process of making the pins'''
* The pin blanks were forged slightly oversize with a square left on one end.
* They were turned to size on the circular part in a special [[lathe]].
* They were given a burnished finish between hardened dies
* One source says they were then tinned to preserve them from rust.

'''The process of making the metal coaks'''
* These were cast in bell-metal and the mould left grease-retaining grooves in the inner bore. One end of the coak had a flange and a loose ring was supplied for the other end, together these parts gave a seating for the rivets which fixed the coak to the sheave.

'''Assembly process'''
* The shells were smoothed by hand with a spoke shave and then the sheave and pin assembled. They were stored in the Block Mills and issued as demanded.

==Significant features==
These machines utilised several features for the first time which have since become commonplace in machine design.
* The boring operation indented gauging points in the wooden blocks which the clamps of the later machines used to locate the blocks precisely. This meant that positioning of the block in later processes ensured accurate location in relation to the tool working on it.
* Several of the machines had cone clutches.
* Brunel used detachable tool bits held in tool holders very similar to those use now on general purpose lathes.
* Expanding collet chucks were used to locate the sheaves by gripping the internal bore, during certain operations.
* Two-jaw gripping chucks were used on some machines. These were precursors of the three-jaw chucks used on lathes today.
* The morticing machines could be set to stop automatically once the operation was finished.
* [[Interchangeability]] of the sheaves and pins was possible, since they were not married to a particular shell.
* The work-flow is perhaps best described as [[batch production]], because of the range of block sizes demanded. But it was basically a [[production-line]] system, nevertheless. This method of working did not catch on in general manufacturing in Britain for many decades, and when it did it was imported from America.
*The entire system was designed to be worked by labourers and not apprentice-trained craftsmen. Each man was trained to operate two or more machines and could be moved round the plant as required.

==The Manufacture of the Block-making machines==
Brunel's patent specification shows wooden framed machines, which, while they show many of the principles of the machines actually installed bear little resemblance to the final designs. Once the contract with the Admiralty had been placed he engaged [[Henry Maudslay]] to make them, and it is clear the final designs had considerable input from Bentham, Maudslay, [[Simon Goodrich]], (mechanician to the Navy board) as well as Brunel himself.

These machines were almost entirely hand made, the only machine tools used being lathes to machine circular parts, and drilling machines for boring small holes. At that time there were no milling, planing or shaping machines, and all flat surfaces were made by hand chipping, filing and scraping. There is evidence that the grinding of flats was also done to get near-precision finishes. Each nut was made to fit its matching bolt and were numbered to ensure they were replaced correctly. This was before the days of [[interchangeability]], of course. The materials used were cast and wrought iron, brass and gun metal. The use of metal throughout their construction greatly improved their rigidity and accuracy which became the standard for later machine tool manufacture.

==Publicity==
These machines and the block mills attracted an enormous amount of interest from the time of their erection, ranging from Admiral [[Lord Nelson]] on the morning of the day he embarked from Portsmouth for the Battle of Trafalgar on 1805, to the Princess Victoria at the age of 12, as part of her education. Even during the time of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], until 1815 there was a stream of foreign dignitaries and military men wishing to learn. The machines were fully described and illustrated in the [[Edinburgh Encyclopaedia]], (1811), [[Rees's Cyclopaedia]], (1812), the supplement to the 4th edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (1817) and the [[Encyclopaedia Metropolitana]]. Later encyclopaedias such as [[Tomlinson's Encyclopaedia]] and the [[Penny Cyclopaedia]] derived their accounts from these earlier publications.

These accounts concentrated almost entirely on the blockmaking machinery, and ignored the saw-milling side of the mills, and in consequence modern commentators have not discussed this aspect of the Block Mills. The sawmills were important since Brunel was enabled to develop his ideas which he employed later in his private veneer mill at Battersea, and the [[Royal Navy]] saw mills at [[Woolwich Dockyard]] and [[Chatham Dockyard]], as well as mills he designed for private concerns, such as Borthwick's at [[Leith]] in Scotland.

==Later history==

The Block Mills have remained in constant Navy occupation ever since and in consequence are not open to the public. Manufacture of blocks using these machines naturally declined over the years, production finally stopping in the 1960s, but some of the original machines, part of the transmission drives and the engine-house shells still survive in the buildings. The [[National Museum of Science and Industry]], London, has a selection of machines, donated by the Admiralty between 1933 and 1951, and others are on display in the [[Dockyard Apprentice Museum]] at Portsmouth. Several websites claim that the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] also has machines from Portsmouth: this is a myth, according to the Institution.

The Block Mills have not been in use for many years, although a lot of the original pulley systems remain in situ, albeit in a poor state of repair. The building is also in a poor state of repair and is a high priority for both [[English Heritage]] and the Ministry of Defence. As of 2006 a project is underway to ensure the building and contents are preserved, if not restored.

==External links==
* [http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/enlightenment_and_measurement/05.ST.02/?scene=3&tv=true National Museum of Science and Industry, London - Making of the Modern World]
* [http://www.ingenious.org.uk Engravings from the Rees's Cyclopaedia account of the block mills]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Printed references==
* The English Heritage reports and other documentation may be consulted as they become available in the National Monuments Record at Swindon, Wiltshire. [http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/Default.asp?WCI=Node&WCE=146]
* Gilbert, K. R. ''The Portsmouth Block-making Machinery'', London, 1965
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Production Line at Portsmouth Block Mill', in ''Industrial Archaeology Review'' VI, 1982, 28-44
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Portsmouth System of Manufacture', ''Technology and Culture'', 25, 1984, 182-225
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850'', Aldershot, 1989
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Portsmouth Block Mills : Bentham, Brunel and the start of the Royal Navy's Industrial Revolution'', 2005,ISBN 1-873592-87-6
* Wilkin, Susan, ''The application of emerging new technologies by Portsmouth Dockyard, 1790-1815'', The Open University PhD Thesis, 1999. (Copies available from the British Thesis service of the British Library)
* Cantrell, J. and Cookson, G. eds. ''Henry Maudslay and the Pioneers of the Machine Age'', Stroud, 2002

[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Hampshire]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2009-07-16T19:12:52Z

Pyrotec: /* Aftermath */ added date

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military [[accident]] which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[27 November]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot. The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.

Between 3,450 and 3,930 [[ton]]s (3,500 and 4,000 [[tonne]]s) of [[ordnance]] exploded — mostly comprising [[high explosive]] (HE)-filled [[bomb]]s, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million [[Cartridge (firearms)|rounds]] of [[rifle]] [[ammunition]]. The resulting [[explosion crater|crater]] was 120 metres (400 [[foot (unit of length|ft]]) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 [[cubic metre]]s of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete [[farm]]. [[Flooding]] caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''[[After The Battle]]'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. [[ISSN|ISSN 0306-154X]].</ref>

==Incident==
===Cause===
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. There had been staff shortages, a management position had remained empty for a year and 194 inexperienced Italian [[POW]]s had been enslaved to work in the mines. In 1974, it was officially announced that the cause of the explosion was probably a site worker removing a [[detonator]] from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. An eye witness testified that he had seen a worker using brass chisels in defiance of the strict regulations in force.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/98/a6370698.shtml</ref>

Two huge explosions were witnessed at RAF No. 21 M.U. Bomb Storage dump on 27 November 1944 at 11.15 hours.
Eye witnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a [[mushroom cloud]] ascending several thousand feet, and saw a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the [[Commanding Officer]] of M.U. 21 ([[Group Captain]] Storer) an open dump of [[incendiary bomb]]s caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties.
Property was damaged within a radius of 3/4 miles of the crater.<ref name="mhs">Ministry of Home Security report File RE. 5/5i region IX.</ref>

Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for {{convert|1420|yd}}. Upper Castle Hayes farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Fordes [[Lime]] and [[Gypsum]] works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the destruction of the reservoir dam and the subsequent release of water into the works. Hanbury Fields farm, Hare Holes farm and also Croft farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was some 900 by {{convert|700|ft|m}} in length and {{convert|380|ft|m}} deep covering 12 [[acre]]s. Approximately one third of the RAF dump exploded, an area of 65000 square yards, but barriers of rock pillars between No. 3 and No. 4 sections held and prevented the other munition storage areas from exploding in a chain reaction. Damage from earth shock extended as far as [[Burton-upon-Trent]]. Also 200 [[cattle]] were killed by the explosion, many having been blown to pieces. A number of live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.<ref name="mhs"/>

Official casualties listed were as follows;<ref name="mhs"/>
*90 persons killed, missing, or injured.
*26 killed or missing at the RAF dump, 5 of whom were gassed by toxic fumes, also 10 severely injured.
*42 killed or missing at Messrs Fordes works and surrounding countryside, also 12 injured.

No. 21 MU was the location of a number of paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by artist [[David Bomberg]]. He was briefly employed as a [[war artist]] by the War Ministry in 1943, and this is fully documented by Richard Cork in his biography of Bomberg.

===Casualties===
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion. The official report file no RE5/5 region IX listed the following casualties:

* 26 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there and 10 severely injured.
* 42 people from a nearby [[plaster]] mill, Messrs Forde and sons.
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

==Aftermath==
Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> Following France's withdrawal from [[NATO]]'s integrated military structure in 1966,<ref>{{cite web |title= Member countries |url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_52044.htm#About |publisher=NATO |date= 9 July 2009 |access= 15 July 2009}}</ref> the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/> There is still a considerable amount of unexploded munitions deeply buried beneath the crater site - it was decided that it would be uneconomical to attempt its removal.

Burton on Trent library has a complete documented file on the explosion.

By 1979 the site was fenced off and since then nature has taken over, with the area covered with over 150 species of trees and wildlife. The area is restricted, however an extremely significant amount of explosives are still buried deep in the site which the UK government have deemed uneconomical to remove.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bell|first=David|title=Staffordshire Tales of Murder & Mystery|publisher=Countryside Books|date=2005|series=Murder & Mystery|pages=78|chapter=8|isbn=1 85306 922 1|accessdate=07/01/2009}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]
*[[RAF munitions storage during WWII]]

==References==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

==Further reading==
* "Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. [[ISSN|ISSN 0951-9726]].
* McCamley, N.J. (1998). ''Secret Underground Cities''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-585-3.
* McCamley, N.J. (2004). ''Disasters Underground''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-022-4.
* Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]

{{coord|52.847117|N|1.730608|W|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauld, RAF explosion}}
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:1944 in England]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force during World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century explosions]]

[[da:RAF Fauld-ulykken]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2009-07-16T19:00:59Z

Pyrotec: /* Aftermath */ minor ce & added citation

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military [[accident]] which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[27 November]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot. The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.

Between 3,450 and 3,930 [[ton]]s (3,500 and 4,000 [[tonne]]s) of [[ordnance]] exploded — mostly comprising [[high explosive]] (HE)-filled [[bomb]]s, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million [[Cartridge (firearms)|rounds]] of [[rifle]] [[ammunition]]. The resulting [[explosion crater|crater]] was 120 metres (400 [[foot (unit of length|ft]]) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 [[cubic metre]]s of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete [[farm]]. [[Flooding]] caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''[[After The Battle]]'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. [[ISSN|ISSN 0306-154X]].</ref>

==Incident==
===Cause===
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. There had been staff shortages, a management position had remained empty for a year and 194 inexperienced Italian [[POW]]s had been enslaved to work in the mines. In 1974, it was officially announced that the cause of the explosion was probably a site worker removing a [[detonator]] from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. An eye witness testified that he had seen a worker using brass chisels in defiance of the strict regulations in force.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/98/a6370698.shtml</ref>

Two huge explosions were witnessed at RAF No. 21 M.U. Bomb Storage dump on 27 November 1944 at 11.15 hours.
Eye witnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a [[mushroom cloud]] ascending several thousand feet, and saw a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the [[Commanding Officer]] of M.U. 21 ([[Group Captain]] Storer) an open dump of [[incendiary bomb]]s caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties.
Property was damaged within a radius of 3/4 miles of the crater.<ref name="mhs">Ministry of Home Security report File RE. 5/5i region IX.</ref>

Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for {{convert|1420|yd}}. Upper Castle Hayes farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Fordes [[Lime]] and [[Gypsum]] works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the destruction of the reservoir dam and the subsequent release of water into the works. Hanbury Fields farm, Hare Holes farm and also Croft farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was some 900 by {{convert|700|ft|m}} in length and {{convert|380|ft|m}} deep covering 12 [[acre]]s. Approximately one third of the RAF dump exploded, an area of 65000 square yards, but barriers of rock pillars between No. 3 and No. 4 sections held and prevented the other munition storage areas from exploding in a chain reaction. Damage from earth shock extended as far as [[Burton-upon-Trent]]. Also 200 [[cattle]] were killed by the explosion, many having been blown to pieces. A number of live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.<ref name="mhs"/>

Official casualties listed were as follows;<ref name="mhs"/>
*90 persons killed, missing, or injured.
*26 killed or missing at the RAF dump, 5 of whom were gassed by toxic fumes, also 10 severely injured.
*42 killed or missing at Messrs Fordes works and surrounding countryside, also 12 injured.

No. 21 MU was the location of a number of paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by artist [[David Bomberg]]. He was briefly employed as a [[war artist]] by the War Ministry in 1943, and this is fully documented by Richard Cork in his biography of Bomberg.

===Casualties===
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion. The official report file no RE5/5 region IX listed the following casualties:

* 26 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there and 10 severely injured.
* 42 people from a nearby [[plaster]] mill, Messrs Forde and sons.
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

==Aftermath==
Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> Following France's withdrawal from [[NATO]]'s integrated military structure,<ref>{{cite web |title= Member countries |url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_52044.htm#About |publisher=NATO |date= 9 July 2009 |access= 15 July 2009}}</ref> the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/> There is still a considerable amount of unexploded munitions deeply buried beneath the crater site - it was decided that it would be uneconomical to attempt its removal.

Burton on Trent library has a complete documented file on the explosion.

By 1979 the site was fenced off and since then nature has taken over, with the area covered with over 150 species of trees and wildlife. The area is restricted, however an extremely significant amount of explosives are still buried deep in the site which the UK government have deemed uneconomical to remove.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bell|first=David|title=Staffordshire Tales of Murder & Mystery|publisher=Countryside Books|date=2005|series=Murder & Mystery|pages=78|chapter=8|isbn=1 85306 922 1|accessdate=07/01/2009}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]
*[[RAF munitions storage during WWII]]

==References==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

==Further reading==
* "Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. [[ISSN|ISSN 0951-9726]].
* McCamley, N.J. (1998). ''Secret Underground Cities''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-585-3.
* McCamley, N.J. (2004). ''Disasters Underground''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-022-4.
* Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]

{{coord|52.847117|N|1.730608|W|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauld, RAF explosion}}
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:1944 in England]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force during World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century explosions]]

[[da:RAF Fauld-ulykken]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2009-07-16T18:45:29Z

Pyrotec: Undid revision 302384411 by Evertw (talk) Rv well intended edit

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military [[accident]] which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[27 November]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot. The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.

Between 3,450 and 3,930 [[ton]]s (3,500 and 4,000 [[tonne]]s) of [[ordnance]] exploded — mostly comprising [[high explosive]] (HE)-filled [[bomb]]s, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million [[Cartridge (firearms)|rounds]] of [[rifle]] [[ammunition]]. The resulting [[explosion crater|crater]] was 120 metres (400 [[foot (unit of length|ft]]) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 [[cubic metre]]s of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete [[farm]]. [[Flooding]] caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''[[After The Battle]]'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. [[ISSN|ISSN 0306-154X]].</ref>

==Incident==
===Cause===
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. There had been staff shortages, a management position had remained empty for a year and 194 inexperienced Italian [[POW]]s had been enslaved to work in the mines. In 1974, it was officially announced that the cause of the explosion was probably a site worker removing a [[detonator]] from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. An eye witness testified that he had seen a worker using brass chisels in defiance of the strict regulations in force.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/98/a6370698.shtml</ref>

Two huge explosions were witnessed at RAF No. 21 M.U. Bomb Storage dump on 27 November 1944 at 11.15 hours.
Eye witnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a [[mushroom cloud]] ascending several thousand feet, and saw a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the [[Commanding Officer]] of M.U. 21 ([[Group Captain]] Storer) an open dump of [[incendiary bomb]]s caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties.
Property was damaged within a radius of 3/4 miles of the crater.<ref name="mhs">Ministry of Home Security report File RE. 5/5i region IX.</ref>

Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for {{convert|1420|yd}}. Upper Castle Hayes farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Fordes [[Lime]] and [[Gypsum]] works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the destruction of the reservoir dam and the subsequent release of water into the works. Hanbury Fields farm, Hare Holes farm and also Croft farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was some 900 by {{convert|700|ft|m}} in length and {{convert|380|ft|m}} deep covering 12 [[acre]]s. Approximately one third of the RAF dump exploded, an area of 65000 square yards, but barriers of rock pillars between No. 3 and No. 4 sections held and prevented the other munition storage areas from exploding in a chain reaction. Damage from earth shock extended as far as [[Burton-upon-Trent]]. Also 200 [[cattle]] were killed by the explosion, many having been blown to pieces. A number of live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.<ref name="mhs"/>

Official casualties listed were as follows;<ref name="mhs"/>
*90 persons killed, missing, or injured.
*26 killed or missing at the RAF dump, 5 of whom were gassed by toxic fumes, also 10 severely injured.
*42 killed or missing at Messrs Fordes works and surrounding countryside, also 12 injured.

No. 21 MU was the location of a number of paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by artist [[David Bomberg]]. He was briefly employed as a [[war artist]] by the War Ministry in 1943, and this is fully documented by Richard Cork in his biography of Bomberg.

===Casualties===
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion. The official report file no RE5/5 region IX listed the following casualties:

* 26 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there and 10 severely injured.
* 42 people from a nearby [[plaster]] mill, Messrs Forde and sons.
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

==Aftermath==
Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> After [[France]] pulled out of [[NATO]] the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/> There is still a considerable amount of unexploded munitions deeply buried beneath the crater site - it was decided that it would be uneconomical to attempt its removal.

Burton on Trent library has a complete documented file on the explosion.

By 1979 the site was fenced off and since then nature has taken over, with the area covered with over 150 species of trees and wildlife. The area is restricted, however an extremely significant amount of explosives are still buried deep in the site which the UK government have deemed uneconomical to remove.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bell|first=David|title=Staffordshire Tales of Murder & Mystery|publisher=Countryside Books|date=2005|series=Murder & Mystery|pages=78|chapter=8|isbn=1 85306 922 1|accessdate=07/01/2009}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]
*[[RAF munitions storage during WWII]]

==References==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

==Further reading==
* "Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. [[ISSN|ISSN 0951-9726]].
* McCamley, N.J. (1998). ''Secret Underground Cities''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-585-3.
* McCamley, N.J. (2004). ''Disasters Underground''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-022-4.
* Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]

{{coord|52.847117|N|1.730608|W|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauld, RAF explosion}}
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:1944 in England]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force during World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century explosions]]

[[da:RAF Fauld-ulykken]]

Zweigstrecke Cresswell–Cheadle

2009-05-21T22:11:02Z

Pyrotec: /* References */ clean up

{| {{Railway line header}}
{{BS-header|Cheadle Branch Line}}
{{BS-table}}
{{BS3|||exHSTa||[[Cheadle railway station|Cheadle]]|Closed 1963}}
{{BS3||exSTRrg|exABZrf||||}}
{{BS3||exTUNNEL1|exSTR||Tunnel|Closed 1933}}
{{BS3||exABZrg|exSTRrf|||}}
{{BS3||exHST|||[[Tean railway station|Tean]]|Closed 1953}}
{{BS3||exSTR||||}}
{{BS5|CONTl|eHSTq|eABZ3rf|CONTr|||[[Cresswell railway station|Cresswell]]}}
{{BS3|||||''[[Crewe to Derby Line]]''}}
|}
|}

The '''Cheadle Branch Line''' was a [[railway line]] of just under {{convert|4|mi|km}} in length that served the town of [[Cheadle, Staffordshire|Cheadle]], [[Staffordshire]]. It was in operation as a passenger line from 1892 to 1963, and closed altogether in 1986. It took 46 years from conception to completion and was notable in that part of the line had to be practically rebuilt partway through its existence.

==Proposals for a line==

In 1849 the [[market town]] of Cheadle, population 3,000, was still without any form of [[rail transport]]. The [[North Staffordshire Railway]] had completed its [[Crewe to Derby Line|Stoke to Derby line]] in 1848 and the [[Churnet Valley Line]] the following year but both of the lines missed the town, passing around {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} miles to the south and north of Cheadle respectively.<ref name="Baker">{{cite book | last=Baker | first=Allan C. | year=1979 | title=The Cheadle Railway | publisher=The Oakwood Press | id=ISBN 085361248X}}</ref> The people of the town, along with several mines on the [[Cheadle Coalfield]], wanted a rail connection as a means of transporting their goods. Several schemes for a [[branch line]] were proposed over the years; among these was a branch from the NSR east of [[Blythe Bridge]] and running via [[Forsbrook]] to [[Dilhorne]] and then Cheadle. Unfortunately, none of the schemes ever came to fruition.<ref name="draycott">{{cite web | title = Railways in Draycott | url = http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/3542/railways.html | accessdate = 2007-09-07}}</ref>

In 1887, the Cheadle Railway, Mineral & Land Co. Ltd was formed and at long last construction of a branch line leaving the NSR line at [[Cresswell, Staffordshire|Cresswell]] began the following year. In the meantime, the owners of Foxfield Colliery at Dilhorne had grown tired of waiting for the new line and had built their own connection to the NSR near Blythe Bridge.<ref name="Baker" /> This line, running entirely over private land and opened in 1893 still survives today as the [[Foxfield Light Railway]], albeit without the connection to the main line.

==Opening==

After several financial problems, the first stretch from Cresswell to [[Totmonslow]] was opened on 7 November 1892.<ref name="subbrit">{{cite web | title = Draycott Cross Colliery & the Cheadle Branch Railway | url = http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/d/draycott_cross_colliery/index.shtml | publisher = Subterranea Britannica | accessdate = 2007-09-04}}</ref> The first train ran to [[Tunstall, Staffordshire|Tunstall]] on the [[Potteries Loop Line]] and regular services became an extension of those on the latter for almost the whole of the branch's existence.<ref name="Baker"/>

Construction of the extension to Cheadle started in 1893. A new colliery, christened New Haden Colliery, was opened at Draycott and the line was already in operation for goods traffic up to this point. The new piece of line involved the building of a difficult [[tunnel]]. This passed through a ridge of high ground of [[sandstone]] before turning east and running to a station on the southern outskirts of Cheadle. The new section was also beset with financial problems and it was not until 1 January 1901 that the line opened in its entirety.<ref name="Baker"/>

In December 1906 Totmonslow station was renamed to ''Tean'', although the village of [[Upper Tean]] was located a mile to the east. On 1 January 1907 the North Staffordshire Railway inherited the line from the Cheadle Railway Company; until that date they had provided the services but not actually owned the line.<ref name="draycott"/>

==Construction of the diversion line==
[[File:Cheadle_branch_line_OS_map_1921.png|thumb|250px|right|Map of the line from 1921, showing the original alignnment]]
Problems with the tunnel began almost immediately after completion. Several sections had to be patched up over the years but in November 1918, partial collapse caused the line to be closed for almost a month. While repairs were underway, the coal traffic was important enough to justify wagons being exchanged between locomotives while inside the tunnel, repairs being carried out by men working on a timber platform with just enough room for the wagons to pass underneath.<ref name="Baker"/>

After the NSR was [[Railways Act 1921|absorbed]] into the [[London, Midland and Scottish Railway]] in 1923, problems with the tunnel became even more commonplace and construction of a new deviation line finally began in 1932. This skirted the high ground to the east and joined up with the old formation again just outside Cheadle station; this new alignment was opened in 1933.<ref name="draycott"/> The tunnel portals were bricked up and the track from the south was lifted soon after, but the northern section of the old line remained in use as a backshunt to New Haden Colliery; all trains to and from the latter would thus need to reverse at Cheadle.
Interestingly, the Southern portal was used as a small private Coal mine in the 70's and 80's and even though it is bricked up some remains of Coal Mining are still at the site.

By the beginning of [[World War II]] the passenger services had reduced to only two trains per day each way, with five on Saturday.<ref name="Baker"/> In a further blow, New Haden Colliery was closed in 1943 after the [[Ministry of Fuel and Power]] decided to move the 500 miners to more efficient pits in aid of the [[war effort]], and its traffic of 3,000 tons per week was lost. However, a [[brickworks]] adjacent to the colliery plus an increasing amount of [[sand]] traffic from nearby quarries, most of it delivered by road to Cheadle, provided a lifeline.<ref name="Baker"/>

==Under British Railways==

As with many other railways in the county, passenger numbers were dwindling by the 1950s and some lines were closed but the Cheadle branch survived, albeit with only three passenger trains and one goods working each way on weekdays.<ref name="Baker"/> Tean station closed under [[British Railways]] on 1 June 1953; by that time it had been reduced in status to an unstaffed halt. [[Diesel multiple units]] started to replace steam traction in 1958 when they were introduced on the Loop Line services, but this did little to stem the decline in passenger numbers.<ref name="Baker"/> The [[Beeching Axe]] finally spelled the end and the final passenger train on the line ran on Saturday 17 June 1963. The last working was the 5:07pm from Cheadle.<ref name="draycott"/>

Freight traffic from a nearby [[quarry]] continued to run until 1978 when the contract for the traffic expired. From then onwards, goods traffic was solely for railway [[civil engineering]] use, with the final train running in 1986.<ref name="Ballantyne">{{cite book | last=Ballantyne | first=Hugh | year=2005 | title=British Railways Past & Present: North Staffordshire and the Trent Valley | publisher=Past & Present Publishing Ltd | id=ISBN 1858952042}}</ref>

After a gap of nearly 22 years, a passenger train ran to Cheadle on 28 March 1985 to mark the launch of the [[InterCity (British Rail)|InterCity]] Charter Train Unit. The service included several [[Pullman train (UK)|Pullman]] vehicles and passengers were taken by road to [[Alton Towers]].<ref name="Moors">{{cite book | first=Terry | last=Moors | year=2007 | title=North Staffordshire Railways: Scenes from the 1980s | publisher=Landmark Publishing Ltd | location=Ashbourne | id=ISBN 1-84306-347-6 }}</ref> A regular service to bring in the park's visitors by rail sadly never came to fruition and the line once again became redundant.

Today, most of the track is heavily overgrown but still ''in situ'', except for the final quarter of a mile into Cheadle which was lifted in 1994 to make way for a new [[housing estate]].<ref name="Ballantyne"/> The northern portal of the tunnel has been buried by opencast [[mining]] activity.<ref name="subbrit"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* [http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#400,341,1 Line on navigable O.S. map]

[[Category:Closed British railway lines]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Staffordshire]]

Bradenstoke Priory

2009-03-19T19:47:06Z

Pyrotec: /* Foundation to the Dissolution */ ref

{{Infobox monastery
| name = Bradenstoke Priory
| image = BradenstokeUndercroft.jpg
| caption = The undercroft
| full =
| other_names =
| order = [[Augustinians|Augustinian]]
| established = 1142
| disestablished = 1539
| mother =
| diocese =
| churches =
| founder = [[Walter D’Evereaux]]
| dedication = [[St. Mary]]
| people =
| location = [[Bradenstoke]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]
| coord = {{coord|51|30|44|N|2|00|13|W|display=inline|type:monument_region:GB}}
| oscoor =
| remains = Tower and undercroft
| public_access = Yes
}}
'''Bradenstoke Priory''' is a [[medieval]] [[priory]] in the village of [[Bradenstoke]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]. It is noted today for its structures having been used by [[William Randolph Hearst]] for the renovation of [[St Donat's Castle]], near [[Llantwit Major]], [[Wales]], in the 1930s.

== Foundation to the Dissolution ==
The priory was founded in 1142 as the [[Augustinian]] [[priory]] of Clack, and dedicated to [[St. Mary]].<ref name = hist>{{cite book | chapter = Houses of Augustinian canons: Priory of Bradenstoke |last= Pugh | first= R.B.| coauthors= Elizabeth Crittall (editors) |series= [[Victoria County History]] | title = A History of the County of Wiltshire | volume = 3 | year = 1956 | pages = 275-288 | chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36538 | accessdate = 14 March 2009}}</ref> It was well-sited on a high ridge near a [[holy well]], with further [[Spring (hydrosphere)|springs]] nearby; there is some evidence that a chapel of the era of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] already existed at the holy well.<ref name = hist/>

The founder, Walter FitzEdward (otherwise D'Everaux), was the son of Edward De Evreux of Salisbury, a [[High Sheriff of Wiltshire]];<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/DEVEREUX.htm | title = DEVEREUX FAMILY | accessdate = 2009-02-06}}</ref> he gave lands for a [[priory]] as a daughter house of [[Cirencester Abbey|St. Mary's Abbey, Cirencester]] and was buried there, near the choir, in 1147. His descendants, the [[Earl of Salisbury|Earls of Salisbury]] remained closely connected with the priory for many years.<ref name = hist/> Throughout most of its early history, the priory also enjoyed royal support, being granted a charter by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] some time between 1173 and 1179; [[Richard I of England|Richard I]] also lent assistance for the priory to break away from the abbot of Cirencester to become a priory in its own right, and [[King John of England|King John]], a frequent visitor, intervened to confirm this secession.<ref name = hist/> This tradition continued with the grant of royal protection by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], who visited in 1235.<ref name = hist/>
[[File:BradenstokeAbbeyTower.jpg|thumb|The tower]]
By the fourteenth century, Bradenstoke Priory had gained wealth and lands in nine counties besides Wiltshire<ref>Vera C.M. London, ''The Cartulary of Bradenstoke Priory'' (Devizes: Wiltshire Record Society) 1979 publishes abstracts of two cartularies in the [[British Library]].</ref> At the [[Dissolution of the monasteries]], the priory ceased to operate on 17 January 1539.<ref name = hist/>

On a visit in 1666, [[John Aubrey]] described the priory as "Very well built, with good strong ribs", and having a cellar "the stateliest in Wiltshire". But he added "the very fundations of this fair church are now, 1666, digged up".<ref name= hist/>

A [[Monastic grange|grange farm]] at [[Seagry|Lower Seagry]], near [[Christian Malford]], had been associated with the priory.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/smr/getsmr.php?id=5424 | title = Wiltshire and Swindon Sites and Monument Record Information | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref>

== Modern history ==
In 1925 [[William Randolph Hearst]] had seen [[St Donat's Castle]] advertised for sale in ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]'' magazine and [[telegram|cabled]] his English agent to buy it.<ref name = Harris>{{cite book | last = Harris| first = John |title = Moving Rooms : | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nwWH3KSt7s4C&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=%22St+Donat%27s+Castle%22+Bradenstoke&source=web&ots=R89VKkX14_&sig=LuvBAvyIYSa4k6nLSPUMqXKILP4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA84,M1 | pages = 84 - 86 | isbn = 9780300124200 |publisher = [[Yale University Press]]| year = 2007| location = }}</ref> He also bought and removed the guest house, Prior's lodging, and [[tithe barn|great tithe barn]]; of these, some of the materials became a banqueting hall, complete with a sixteenth century French chimneypiece and windows; also used were a fireplace dated to c. 1514 and a fourteenth century roof,<ref name = hist/><ref name = Harris/> which became part of the Bradenstoke Hall, despite this use being questioned in Parliament.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.stradling.org.uk/docs/Guide1.htm | title = A DESCRIPTION OF THE CASTLE AND GARDENS | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref> The tithe barn was crated and sent to [[Hearst Castle]], [[San Simeon, California]], and sold again when Hearst lost interest.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.burtonbradstock.org.uk/History/Bradenstoke%20Priory_files/Bradenstoke%20Priory.htm | title = Bradenstoke Priory | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref>

All that remains of the priory in the 21st century are its tower and undercroft, although it was announced in 2005 that [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|DEFRA]] would be financing a scheme to preserve the remains.<ref name = DEFRA>{{cite web | url = http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=161827 | title = 12th Century Ruin Gets New Lease of Like with DEFRA Funding | date = 30 June 2005 | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}; [http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/7/1/83117.html This is Wiltshire: Historic Site Set to be Restored].</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Ruins in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Monasteries in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Augustinian monasteries in England]]
[[Category:1142 establishments]]

Bradenstoke Priory

2009-03-19T19:42:49Z

Pyrotec: /* Foundation to the Dissolution */ redid last edit

{{Infobox monastery
| name = Bradenstoke Priory
| image = BradenstokeUndercroft.jpg
| caption = The undercroft
| full =
| other_names =
| order = [[Augustinians|Augustinian]]
| established = 1142
| disestablished = 1539
| mother =
| diocese =
| churches =
| founder = [[Walter D’Evereaux]]
| dedication = [[St. Mary]]
| people =
| location = [[Bradenstoke]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]
| coord = {{coord|51|30|44|N|2|00|13|W|display=inline|type:monument_region:GB}}
| oscoor =
| remains = Tower and undercroft
| public_access = Yes
}}
'''Bradenstoke Priory''' is a [[medieval]] [[priory]] in the village of [[Bradenstoke]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]. It is noted today for its structures having been used by [[William Randolph Hearst]] for the renovation of [[St Donat's Castle]], near [[Llantwit Major]], [[Wales]], in the 1930s.

== Foundation to the Dissolution ==
The priory was founded in 1142 as the [[Augustinian]] [[priory]] of Clack, and dedicated to [[St. Mary]].<ref name = hist>{{cite book | chapter = Houses of Augustinian canons: Priory of Bradenstoke | editor1-first= R.B.|editor1-last= Pugh| |coauthors= Elizabeth Crittall (editors) | title = A History of the County of Wiltshire | volume = 3 | year = 1956 | pages = 275-288 | chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36538 | accessdate = 14 March 2009}}</ref> It was well-sited on a high ridge near a [[holy well]], with further [[Spring (hydrosphere)|springs]] nearby; there is some evidence that a chapel of the era of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] already existed at the holy well.<ref name = hist/>

The founder, Walter FitzEdward (otherwise D'Everaux), was the son of Edward De Evreux of Salisbury, a [[High Sheriff of Wiltshire]];<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/DEVEREUX.htm | title = DEVEREUX FAMILY | accessdate = 2009-02-06}}</ref> he gave lands for a [[priory]] as a daughter house of [[Cirencester Abbey|St. Mary's Abbey, Cirencester]] and was buried there, near the choir, in 1147. His descendants, the [[Earl of Salisbury|Earls of Salisbury]] remained closely connected with the priory for many years.<ref name = hist/> Throughout most of its early history, the priory also enjoyed royal support, being granted a charter by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] some time between 1173 and 1179; [[Richard I of England|Richard I]] also lent assistance for the priory to break away from the abbot of Cirencester to become a priory in its own right, and [[King John of England|King John]], a frequent visitor, intervened to confirm this secession.<ref name = hist/> This tradition continued with the grant of royal protection by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], who visited in 1235.<ref name = hist/>
[[File:BradenstokeAbbeyTower.jpg|thumb|The tower]]
By the fourteenth century, Bradenstoke Priory had gained wealth and lands in nine counties besides Wiltshire<ref>Vera C.M. London, ''The Cartulary of Bradenstoke Priory'' (Devizes: Wiltshire Record Society) 1979 publishes abstracts of two cartularies in the [[British Library]].</ref> At the [[Dissolution of the monasteries]], the priory ceased to operate on 17 January 1539.<ref name = hist/>

On a visit in 1666, [[John Aubrey]] described the priory as "Very well built, with good strong ribs", and having a cellar "the stateliest in Wiltshire". But he added "the very fundations of this fair church are now, 1666, digged up".<ref name= hist/>

A [[Monastic grange|grange farm]] at [[Seagry|Lower Seagry]], near [[Christian Malford]], had been associated with the priory.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/smr/getsmr.php?id=5424 | title = Wiltshire and Swindon Sites and Monument Record Information | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref>

== Modern history ==
In 1925 [[William Randolph Hearst]] had seen [[St Donat's Castle]] advertised for sale in ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]'' magazine and [[telegram|cabled]] his English agent to buy it.<ref name = Harris>{{cite book | last = Harris| first = John |title = Moving Rooms : | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nwWH3KSt7s4C&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=%22St+Donat%27s+Castle%22+Bradenstoke&source=web&ots=R89VKkX14_&sig=LuvBAvyIYSa4k6nLSPUMqXKILP4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA84,M1 | pages = 84 - 86 | isbn = 9780300124200 |publisher = [[Yale University Press]]| year = 2007| location = }}</ref> He also bought and removed the guest house, Prior's lodging, and [[tithe barn|great tithe barn]]; of these, some of the materials became a banqueting hall, complete with a sixteenth century French chimneypiece and windows; also used were a fireplace dated to c. 1514 and a fourteenth century roof,<ref name = hist/><ref name = Harris/> which became part of the Bradenstoke Hall, despite this use being questioned in Parliament.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.stradling.org.uk/docs/Guide1.htm | title = A DESCRIPTION OF THE CASTLE AND GARDENS | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref> The tithe barn was crated and sent to [[Hearst Castle]], [[San Simeon, California]], and sold again when Hearst lost interest.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.burtonbradstock.org.uk/History/Bradenstoke%20Priory_files/Bradenstoke%20Priory.htm | title = Bradenstoke Priory | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref>

All that remains of the priory in the 21st century are its tower and undercroft, although it was announced in 2005 that [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|DEFRA]] would be financing a scheme to preserve the remains.<ref name = DEFRA>{{cite web | url = http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=161827 | title = 12th Century Ruin Gets New Lease of Like with DEFRA Funding | date = 30 June 2005 | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}; [http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/7/1/83117.html This is Wiltshire: Historic Site Set to be Restored].</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Ruins in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Monasteries in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Augustinian monasteries in England]]
[[Category:1142 establishments]]

Bradenstoke Priory

2009-03-19T19:41:07Z

Pyrotec: /* Foundation to the Dissolution */ dabbed ref

{{Infobox monastery
| name = Bradenstoke Priory
| image = BradenstokeUndercroft.jpg
| caption = The undercroft
| full =
| other_names =
| order = [[Augustinians|Augustinian]]
| established = 1142
| disestablished = 1539
| mother =
| diocese =
| churches =
| founder = [[Walter D’Evereaux]]
| dedication = [[St. Mary]]
| people =
| location = [[Bradenstoke]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]
| coord = {{coord|51|30|44|N|2|00|13|W|display=inline|type:monument_region:GB}}
| oscoor =
| remains = Tower and undercroft
| public_access = Yes
}}
'''Bradenstoke Priory''' is a [[medieval]] [[priory]] in the village of [[Bradenstoke]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]. It is noted today for its structures having been used by [[William Randolph Hearst]] for the renovation of [[St Donat's Castle]], near [[Llantwit Major]], [[Wales]], in the 1930s.

== Foundation to the Dissolution ==
The priory was founded in 1142 as the [[Augustinian]] [[priory]] of Clack, and dedicated to [[St. Mary]].<ref name = hist>{{cite book | chapter = Houses of Augustinian canons: Priory of Bradenstoke | editor1-first= R.B.|editor1-last= Pugh| |others= Elizabeth Crittall (editors) | title = A History of the County of Wiltshire | volume = 3 | year = 1956 | pages = 275-288 | chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36538 | accessdate = 14 March 2009}}</ref> It was well-sited on a high ridge near a [[holy well]], with further [[Spring (hydrosphere)|springs]] nearby; there is some evidence that a chapel of the era of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] already existed at the holy well.<ref name = hist/>

The founder, Walter FitzEdward (otherwise D'Everaux), was the son of Edward De Evreux of Salisbury, a [[High Sheriff of Wiltshire]];<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/DEVEREUX.htm | title = DEVEREUX FAMILY | accessdate = 2009-02-06}}</ref> he gave lands for a [[priory]] as a daughter house of [[Cirencester Abbey|St. Mary's Abbey, Cirencester]] and was buried there, near the choir, in 1147. His descendants, the [[Earl of Salisbury|Earls of Salisbury]] remained closely connected with the priory for many years.<ref name = hist/> Throughout most of its early history, the priory also enjoyed royal support, being granted a charter by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] some time between 1173 and 1179; [[Richard I of England|Richard I]] also lent assistance for the priory to break away from the abbot of Cirencester to become a priory in its own right, and [[King John of England|King John]], a frequent visitor, intervened to confirm this secession.<ref name = hist/> This tradition continued with the grant of royal protection by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], who visited in 1235.<ref name = hist/>
[[File:BradenstokeAbbeyTower.jpg|thumb|The tower]]
By the fourteenth century, Bradenstoke Priory had gained wealth and lands in nine counties besides Wiltshire<ref>Vera C.M. London, ''The Cartulary of Bradenstoke Priory'' (Devizes: Wiltshire Record Society) 1979 publishes abstracts of two cartularies in the [[British Library]].</ref> At the [[Dissolution of the monasteries]], the priory ceased to operate on 17 January 1539.<ref name = hist/>

On a visit in 1666, [[John Aubrey]] described the priory as "Very well built, with good strong ribs", and having a cellar "the stateliest in Wiltshire". But he added "the very fundations of this fair church are now, 1666, digged up".<ref name= hist/>

A [[Monastic grange|grange farm]] at [[Seagry|Lower Seagry]], near [[Christian Malford]], had been associated with the priory.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/smr/getsmr.php?id=5424 | title = Wiltshire and Swindon Sites and Monument Record Information | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref>

== Modern history ==
In 1925 [[William Randolph Hearst]] had seen [[St Donat's Castle]] advertised for sale in ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]'' magazine and [[telegram|cabled]] his English agent to buy it.<ref name = Harris>{{cite book | last = Harris| first = John |title = Moving Rooms : | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nwWH3KSt7s4C&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=%22St+Donat%27s+Castle%22+Bradenstoke&source=web&ots=R89VKkX14_&sig=LuvBAvyIYSa4k6nLSPUMqXKILP4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA84,M1 | pages = 84 - 86 | isbn = 9780300124200 |publisher = [[Yale University Press]]| year = 2007| location = }}</ref> He also bought and removed the guest house, Prior's lodging, and [[tithe barn|great tithe barn]]; of these, some of the materials became a banqueting hall, complete with a sixteenth century French chimneypiece and windows; also used were a fireplace dated to c. 1514 and a fourteenth century roof,<ref name = hist/><ref name = Harris/> which became part of the Bradenstoke Hall, despite this use being questioned in Parliament.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.stradling.org.uk/docs/Guide1.htm | title = A DESCRIPTION OF THE CASTLE AND GARDENS | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref> The tithe barn was crated and sent to [[Hearst Castle]], [[San Simeon, California]], and sold again when Hearst lost interest.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.burtonbradstock.org.uk/History/Bradenstoke%20Priory_files/Bradenstoke%20Priory.htm | title = Bradenstoke Priory | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}</ref>

All that remains of the priory in the 21st century are its tower and undercroft, although it was announced in 2005 that [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|DEFRA]] would be financing a scheme to preserve the remains.<ref name = DEFRA>{{cite web | url = http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=161827 | title = 12th Century Ruin Gets New Lease of Like with DEFRA Funding | date = 30 June 2005 | accessdate = 2009-01-23}}; [http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/7/1/83117.html This is Wiltshire: Historic Site Set to be Restored].</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Ruins in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Monasteries in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Augustinian monasteries in England]]
[[Category:1142 establishments]]

Portsmouth Block Mills

2008-08-17T15:22:08Z

Pyrotec: /* The block-making processes using the machines */ wikified

The '''Portsmouth Block Mills''' form part of the [[Portsmouth Dockyard]] at [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]], and were built during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] to supply the British [[Royal Navy]] with [[pulley]] [[block (sailing)|block]]s. They started the age of [[mass-production]] using all-metal [[machine tool]]s and are regarded as one of the seminal buildings of the British [[Industrial Revolution]]. They are also the site of the first [[stationary steam engine]]s used by the [[Admiralty]].

Since 2003 [[English Heritage]] has been undertaking a detailed survey of the buildings and the records relating to the machines.

==Development of Portsmouth Dockyard==
The [[Royal Navy]] had evolved by the middle of the eighteenth century into what has been described as the greatest industrial power in the western world. The [[Admiralty]] and Navy Board began a programme of modernisation of dockyards at [[Portsmouth Dockyard|Portsmouth]] and [[Plymouth]], and by the start of the war with Revolutionary France possessed the most up-to-date fleet facilities in Europe.

The Dock system at Portsmouth has its origins in the work of [[Edmund Dummer]] in the 1690s. He constructed a series of basins, and wet and [[dry dock]]s. Alterations were made to these in the course of the eighteenth century. One of the basins had become redundant by 1770, and it was proposed to use this as a sump into which all the water from the other facilities could drain. The water was pumped out by a series of horse-operated [[chain pumps]].

In 1795, Brigadier-General Sir [[Samuel Bentham]] was appointed by the Admiralty, the first and only [[Inspector General of Naval Works]] with the task of continuing this modernisation, and in particular the introduction of steam power and mechanising the production processes in the dockyard. His office employed several specialists as his assistants - Mechanist ([[engineer]]), Draughtsmen, [[Architect]], [[Chemist]], Clerks, etc. The Inspector General's office was responsible for the introduction at Portsmouth of plant for the rolling of [[copper]] plates for sheathing ships, and for forging-mills for the production of metal parts used in the construction of vessels. They also introduced similar modernisation at the other Naval dockyards.

By 1797 work had started on building additional dry docks and on deepening the basins, and Bentham realised that the existing drainage system would not cope with the increased demand. He installed a steam engine designed by a member of his staff, [[James Sadler]], in 1798 which, as well as working the chain pumps, drove woodworking machinery and a pump to take water from a well round the dockyard for fire-fighting purposes. This well was some {{convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on}} away, and the pumps operated by a horizontal reciprocating wooden spear housed in a tunnel running from the engine house to the top of the well. The Sadler engine was a house-built [[table engine]] installed in a single-storey engine house with integral boiler; it replaced one of the horse-drives to the chain pumps. This engine was replaced in 1807 in the same house by another, more powerful, table engine made by [[Matthew Murray|Fenton, Murray and Wood]] of [[Leeds]], and in turn in 1830 by a [[Maudslay]] beam engine.

In 1800 a [[Boulton and Watt]] beam engine was ordered as back-up and was housed in a three-storey engine house in line with the Sadler engine house. This engine was replaced in 1837 by another engine made by [[James Watt and Co]].

Space was very tight and expansion of manufacturing facilities was not possible, so by 1802 the drainage basin was filled with two tiers of brick vaults - the lower layer to act as the reservoir, the upper layer as storage, and the roof of the latter being level with the surrounding land, so creating more space. This allowed the construction of two parallel ranges of three-storey wood mills, the southern to incorporate both engine houses and their chimney stacks, the chain pumps and some wood working machinery. The northern range was directly over the vaults and was to house more woodworking machinery. The buildings were designed by [[Samuel Bunce]], the architect of Bentham's staff.

While the vaults were under construction Bentham was ordering woodworking machinery of his own design, mostly up-and-down saws and circular saws. These were fitted-up in both ranges, the power to drive them being transmitted from the engines to the north range by underdrives through the upper layer of vaults, and then by vertical shafts to the upper floors of the buildings. The final drives to the machines was by flat belts running on pulleys.

This machinery was planned to cut timber for the numerous smaller parts used in shipbuilding, especially joinery, which had previously been cut by hand, such as components for tables and benches, as well as small turned goods like belaying pins. There is evidence that he had developed a rotary wood-planing machine, but details of this are obscure. There is also evidence that the complex housed a pipe boring machine, whereby straight elm trees were bored out for pump dales. These could be up to 40 ft long and were fitted through the decks of a vessel to pump seawater to the deck. There was a machine for making treenails - long wooden dowels used for fixing wooden parts of a ship together.

==Blocks==
[[Image:Bird on block.jpg|thumb|left|A wooden block]]
The Royal Navy used large numbers of [[block (sailing)|block]]s, which were all hand-made by contractors. Their quality was not consistent, the supply problematic and they were expensive. A typical ship of the line needed about 1000 blocks of different sizes, and in the course of the year the Navy required over 100,000. Bentham had devised some machines for making blocks, but did not develop them and details of how they worked are now obscure. In 1802 [[Marc Isambard Brunel]] proposed to the Admiralty a system of making blocks using machinery he had [[patent]]ed. Bentham appreciated the superiority of Brunel's system and in August 1802 he was authorised by the Admiralty to proceed.

There were three series of block-making machines, each designed to make a range of block sizes. They were laid out to allow a production line, so each stage of the work progressed to the next in a natural flow. The yard between the two wood mill buildings was walled-off and roofed to form a new workshop to house the block-making machines.

The first set, for medium blocks, was installed in January 1803, the second set for smaller blocks in May 1803, and the third set for large blocks in March 1805. There were numerous changes of layout and some modification of the plant until in September 1807 the plant was felt able to fulfil all the needs of the Navy: In 1808 130,000 blocks were produced.

==The block-making processes using the machines==
A pulley-block has four parts: the shell, the sheave, the pin for locating the latter in the shell and a metal [[Bush (mechanical)|bush]], or coak, inserted into the sheave to save wear between it and the pin. Blocks can vary in size and in the number of sheaves.

'''The process of making the shells'''
* Cut slices from the trunk of a tree, and from these slices by means of the [[circular saw]]s cut rectangular blocks from which the shells were manufactured.
* Bore a hole in the block for the pin, and at right angles to this a hole or holes to receive the morticing chisels,(depending on the number of mortices). The clamp used to hold the block at the same time indented locating points by which the blocks were secured in the later machines, thus ensuring consistent location and measurement in the subsequent processes.
* Mortice the blocks by a self-acting machine. The morticing chisel reciprocated vertically, and at the same time the vice gripping the block was gradually moved each cut. Once the length of the mortice had been cut the machine automatically stopped to allow the block to be replaced with a new one.
* Cut the corners off the block by a circular saw with angled guides.
* Shape the 4 faces of the blocks to a shallow curve. This was done by a machine where a number of blocks were clamped in the periphery of a revolving wheel. The cutter was swept in a curve across the faces of the blocks as they rotated. The radius of the curve was controlled by a former. After each cut the blocks were turned 90 degrees to bring up a new face.
* Each block was then placed in a machine which scored a shallow groove, by means of a revolving cutter, to give a location for the securing ropes.

'''The process of making the sheaves'''
* Cut a slice across a trunk of [[Lignum Vitae]]. The machine for this allowed the log to be rotated at the same time as the circular saw operated, ensuring that an equal thickness was maintained. The position of the log for each new cut was controlled by a leadscrew ensuring great accuracy.
* Make a circular disc from this slice by means of a rounding saw, which simultaneously bored out the middle and shaped the outer edge.
* Mill out from each face a profile to take the outer face of the coak
* The coak was inserted into the sheave, and a retaining ring [[rivet]]ted to keep it in place.
* [[Broach (metalworking)|Broach]] out the hole in the coak to the size of the requisite pin.
* The finished sheave was faced-off on both sides in a special lathe, and the rope groove was machined on the edge.

'''The process of making the pins'''
* The pin blanks were forged slightly oversize with a square left on one end.
* They were turned to size on the circular part in a special [[lathe]].
* They were given a burnished finish between hardened dies
* One source says they were then tinned to preserve them from rust.

'''The process of making the metal coaks'''
* These were cast in bell-metal and the mould left grease-retaining grooves in the inner bore. One end of the coak had a flange and a loose ring was supplied for the other end, together these parts gave a seating for the rivets which fixed the coak to the sheave.

'''Assembly process'''
* The shells were smoothed by hand with a spoke shave and then the sheave and pin assembled. They were stored in the Block Mills and issued as demanded.

==Significant features==
These machines utilised several features for the first time which have since become commonplace in machine design.
* The boring operation indented gauging points in the wooden blocks which the clamps of the later machines used to locate the blocks precicely. This meant that positioning of the block in later processes ensured accurate location in relation to the tool working on it.
* Several of the machines had cone clutches.
* Brunel used detachable tool bits held in tool holders very similar to those use now on general purpose lathes.
* Expanding collet chucks were used to locate the sheaves by gripping the internal bore, during certain operations.
* Two-jaw gripping chucks were used on some machines. These were precursors of the three-jaw chucks used on lathes today.
* The morticing machines could be set to stop automatically once the operation was finished.
* [[Interchangeability]] of the sheaves and pins was possible, since they were not married to a particular shell.
* The work-flow is perhaps best described as [[batch production]], because of the range of block sizes demanded. But it was basically a [[production-line]] system, nevertheless. This method of working did not catch on in general manufacturing in Britain for many decades, and when it did it was imported from America.
*The entire system was designed to be worked by labourers and not apprentice-trained craftsmen. Each man was trained to operate two or more machines and could be moved round the plant as required.

==The Manufacture of the Block-making machines==
Brunel's patent specification shows wooden framed machines, which, while they show many of the principles of the machines actually installed bear little resemblance to the final designs. Once the contract with the Admiralty had been placed he engaged [[Henry Maudslay]] to make them, and it is clear the final designs had considerable input from Bentham, Maudslay, [[Simon Goodrich]], (mechanician to the Navy board) as well as Brunel himself.

These machines were almost entirely hand made, the only machine tools used being lathes to machine circular parts, and drilling machines for boring small holes. At that time there were no milling, planing or shaping machines, and all flat surfaces were made by hand chipping, filing and scraping. There is evidence that the grinding of flats was also done to get near-precision finishes. Each nut was made to fit its matching bolt and were numbered to ensure they were replaced correctly. This was before the days of [[interchangeability]], of course. The materials used were cast and wrought iron, brass and gun metal. The use of metal throughout their construction greatly improved their rigidity and accuracy which became the standard for later machine tool manufacture.

==Publicity==
These machines and the block mills attracted an enormous amount of interest from the time of their erection, ranging from Admiral [[Lord Nelson]] on the morning of the day he embarked from Portsmouth for the Battle of Trafalgar on 1805, to the Princess Victoria at the age of 12, as part of her education. Even during the time of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], until 1815 there was a stream of foreign dignitaries and military men wishing to learn. The machines were fully described and illustrated in the [[Edinburgh Encyclopaedia]], (1811), [[Rees's Cyclopaedia]], (1812), the supplement to the 4th edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (1817) and the [[Encyclopaedia Metropolitana]]. Later encyclopaedias such as [[Tomlinson's Encyclopaedia]] and the [[Penny Cyclopaedia]] derived their accounts from these earlier publications.

These accounts concentrated almost entirely on the blockmaking machinery, and ignored the saw-milling side of the mills, and in consequence modern commentators have not discussed this aspect of the Block Mills. The sawmills were important since Brunel was enabled to develop his ideas which he employed later in his private veneer mill at Battersea, and the [[Royal Navy]] saw mills at [[Woolwich Dockyard]] and [[Chatham Dockyard]], as well as mills he designed for private concerns, such as Borthwick's at [[Leith]] in Scotland.

==Later history==

The Block Mills have remained in constant Navy occupation ever since and in consequence are not open to the public. Manufacture of blocks using these machines naturally declined over the years, production finally stopping in the 1960s, but some of the original machines, part of the transmission drives and the engine-house shells still survive in the buildings. The [[National Museum of Science and Industry]], London, has a selection of machines, donated by the Admiralty between 1933 and 1951, and others are on display in the [[Dockyard Apprentice Museum]] at Portsmouth. Several websites claim that the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] also has machines from Portsmouth: this is a myth, according to the Institution.

The Block Mills have not been in use for many years, although a lot of the original pulley systems remain in situ, albeit in a poor state of repair. The building is also in a poor state of repair and is a high priority for both [[English Heritage]] and the Ministry of Defence. As of 2006 a project is underway to ensure the building and contents are preserved, if not restored.

==External links==
* [http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/enlightenment_and_measurement/05.ST.02/?scene=3&tv=true National Museum of Science and Industry, London - Making of the Modern World]
* [http://www.ingenious.org.uk Engravings from the Rees's Cyclopaedia account of the block mills]

==Printed references==

* The English Heritage reports and other documentation may be consulted as they become available in the National Monuments Record at Swindon, Wiltshire. [http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/Default.asp?WCI=Node&WCE=146]
* Gilbert, K. R. ''The Portsmouth Block-making Machinery'', London, 1965
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Production Line at Portsmouth Block Mill', in ''Industrial Archaeology Review'' VI, 1982, 28-44
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Portsmouth System of Manufacture', ''Technology and Culture'', 25, 1984, 182-225
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850'', Aldershot, 1989
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Portsmouth Block Mills : Bentham, Brunel and the start of the Royal Navy's Industrial Revolution'', 2005,ISBN 1-873592-87-6
* Wilkin, Susan, ''The application of emerging new technologies by Portsmouth Dockyard, 1790-1815'', The Open University PhD Thesis, 1999. (Copies available from the British Thesis service of the British Library)
* Cantrell, J. and Cookson, G. eds. ''Henry Maudslay and the Pioneers of the Machine Age'', Stroud, 2002

[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Hampshire]]

Portsmouth Block Mills

2008-08-17T15:15:59Z

Pyrotec: /* Later history */ dabbed link

The '''Portsmouth Block Mills''' form part of the [[Portsmouth Dockyard]] at [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]], and were built during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] to supply the British [[Royal Navy]] with [[pulley]] [[block (sailing)|block]]s. They started the age of [[mass-production]] using all-metal [[machine tool]]s and are regarded as one of the seminal buildings of the British [[Industrial Revolution]]. They are also the site of the first [[stationary steam engine]]s used by the [[Admiralty]].

Since 2003 [[English Heritage]] has been undertaking a detailed survey of the buildings and the records relating to the machines.

==Development of Portsmouth Dockyard==
The [[Royal Navy]] had evolved by the middle of the eighteenth century into what has been described as the greatest industrial power in the western world. The [[Admiralty]] and Navy Board began a programme of modernisation of dockyards at [[Portsmouth Dockyard|Portsmouth]] and [[Plymouth]], and by the start of the war with Revolutionary France possessed the most up-to-date fleet facilities in Europe.

The Dock system at Portsmouth has its origins in the work of [[Edmund Dummer]] in the 1690s. He constructed a series of basins, and wet and [[dry dock]]s. Alterations were made to these in the course of the eighteenth century. One of the basins had become redundant by 1770, and it was proposed to use this as a sump into which all the water from the other facilities could drain. The water was pumped out by a series of horse-operated [[chain pumps]].

In 1795, Brigadier-General Sir [[Samuel Bentham]] was appointed by the Admiralty, the first and only [[Inspector General of Naval Works]] with the task of continuing this modernisation, and in particular the introduction of steam power and mechanising the production processes in the dockyard. His office employed several specialists as his assistants - Mechanist ([[engineer]]), Draughtsmen, [[Architect]], [[Chemist]], Clerks, etc. The Inspector General's office was responsible for the introduction at Portsmouth of plant for the rolling of [[copper]] plates for sheathing ships, and for forging-mills for the production of metal parts used in the construction of vessels. They also introduced similar modernisation at the other Naval dockyards.

By 1797 work had started on building additional dry docks and on deepening the basins, and Bentham realised that the existing drainage system would not cope with the increased demand. He installed a steam engine designed by a member of his staff, [[James Sadler]], in 1798 which, as well as working the chain pumps, drove woodworking machinery and a pump to take water from a well round the dockyard for fire-fighting purposes. This well was some {{convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on}} away, and the pumps operated by a horizontal reciprocating wooden spear housed in a tunnel running from the engine house to the top of the well. The Sadler engine was a house-built [[table engine]] installed in a single-storey engine house with integral boiler; it replaced one of the horse-drives to the chain pumps. This engine was replaced in 1807 in the same house by another, more powerful, table engine made by [[Matthew Murray|Fenton, Murray and Wood]] of [[Leeds]], and in turn in 1830 by a [[Maudslay]] beam engine.

In 1800 a [[Boulton and Watt]] beam engine was ordered as back-up and was housed in a three-storey engine house in line with the Sadler engine house. This engine was replaced in 1837 by another engine made by [[James Watt and Co]].

Space was very tight and expansion of manufacturing facilities was not possible, so by 1802 the drainage basin was filled with two tiers of brick vaults - the lower layer to act as the reservoir, the upper layer as storage, and the roof of the latter being level with the surrounding land, so creating more space. This allowed the construction of two parallel ranges of three-storey wood mills, the southern to incorporate both engine houses and their chimney stacks, the chain pumps and some wood working machinery. The northern range was directly over the vaults and was to house more woodworking machinery. The buildings were designed by [[Samuel Bunce]], the architect of Bentham's staff.

While the vaults were under construction Bentham was ordering woodworking machinery of his own design, mostly up-and-down saws and circular saws. These were fitted-up in both ranges, the power to drive them being transmitted from the engines to the north range by underdrives through the upper layer of vaults, and then by vertical shafts to the upper floors of the buildings. The final drives to the machines was by flat belts running on pulleys.

This machinery was planned to cut timber for the numerous smaller parts used in shipbuilding, especially joinery, which had previously been cut by hand, such as components for tables and benches, as well as small turned goods like belaying pins. There is evidence that he had developed a rotary wood-planing machine, but details of this are obscure. There is also evidence that the complex housed a pipe boring machine, whereby straight elm trees were bored out for pump dales. These could be up to 40 ft long and were fitted through the decks of a vessel to pump seawater to the deck. There was a machine for making treenails - long wooden dowels used for fixing wooden parts of a ship together.

==Blocks==
[[Image:Bird on block.jpg|thumb|left|A wooden block]]
The Royal Navy used large numbers of [[block (sailing)|block]]s, which were all hand-made by contractors. Their quality was not consistent, the supply problematic and they were expensive. A typical ship of the line needed about 1000 blocks of different sizes, and in the course of the year the Navy required over 100,000. Bentham had devised some machines for making blocks, but did not develop them and details of how they worked are now obscure. In 1802 [[Marc Isambard Brunel]] proposed to the Admiralty a system of making blocks using machinery he had [[patent]]ed. Bentham appreciated the superiority of Brunel's system and in August 1802 he was authorised by the Admiralty to proceed.

There were three series of block-making machines, each designed to make a range of block sizes. They were laid out to allow a production line, so each stage of the work progressed to the next in a natural flow. The yard between the two wood mill buildings was walled-off and roofed to form a new workshop to house the block-making machines.

The first set, for medium blocks, was installed in January 1803, the second set for smaller blocks in May 1803, and the third set for large blocks in March 1805. There were numerous changes of layout and some modification of the plant until in September 1807 the plant was felt able to fulfil all the needs of the Navy: In 1808 130,000 blocks were produced.

==The block-making processes using the machines==
A pulley-block has four parts: the shell, the sheave, the pin for locating the latter in the shell and a metal bush, or coak, inserted into the sheave to save wear between it and the pin. Blocks can vary in size and in the number of sheaves.

'''The process of making the shells'''
* Cut slices from the trunk of a tree, and from these slices by means of the circular saws cut rectangular blocks from which the shells were manufactured.
* Bore a hole in the block for the pin, and at right angles to this a hole or holes to receive the morticing chisels,(depending on the number of mortices). The clamp used to hold the block at the same time indented locating points by which the blocks were secured in the later machines, thus ensuring consistent location and measurement in the subsequent processes.
* Mortice the blocks by a self-acting machine. The morticing chisel reciprocated vertically, and at the same time the vice gripping the block was gradually moved each cut. Once the length of the mortice had been cut the machine automatically stopped to allow the block to be replaced with a new one.
* Cut the corners off the block by a circular saw with angled guides.
* Shape the 4 faces of the blocks to a shallow curve. This was done by a machine where a number of blocks were clamped in the periphery of a revolving wheel. The cutter was swept in a curve across the faces of the blocks as they rotated. The radius of the curve was controlled by a former. After each cut the blocks were turned 90 degrees to bring up a new face.
* Each block was then placed in a machine which scored a shallow groove, by means of a revolving cutter, to give a location for the securing ropes.

'''The process of making the sheaves'''
* Cut a slice across a trunk of Lignum Vitae. The machine for this allowed the log to be rotated at the same time as the circular saw operated, ensuring that an equal thickness was maintained. The position of the log for each new cut was controlled by a leadscrew ensuring great accuracy.
* Make a circular disc from this slice by means of a rounding saw, which simultaneously bored out the middle and shaped the outer edge.
* Mill out from each face a profile to take the outer face of the coak
* The coak was inserted into the sheave, and a retaining ring rivetted to keep it in place.
* Broach out the hole in the coak to the size of the requisite pin.
* The finished sheave was faced-off on both sides in a special lathe, and the rope groove was machined on the edge.

'''The process of making the pins'''
* The pin blanks were forged slightly oversize with a square left on one end.
* They were turned to size on the circular part in a special lathe.
* They were given a burnished finish between hardened dies
* One source says they were then tinned to preserve them from rust.

'''The process of making the metal coaks'''
* These were cast in bell-metal and the mould left grease-retaining grooves in the inner bore. One end of the coak had a flange and a loose ring was supplied for the other end, together these parts gave a seating for the rivets which fixed the coak to the sheave.

'''Assembly process'''
* The shells were smoothed by hand with a spoke shave and then the sheave and pin assembled. They were stored in the Block Mills and issued as demanded.

==Significant features==
These machines utilised several features for the first time which have since become commonplace in machine design.
* The boring operation indented gauging points in the wooden blocks which the clamps of the later machines used to locate the blocks precicely. This meant that positioning of the block in later processes ensured accurate location in relation to the tool working on it.
* Several of the machines had cone clutches.
* Brunel used detachable tool bits held in tool holders very similar to those use now on general purpose lathes.
* Expanding collet chucks were used to locate the sheaves by gripping the internal bore, during certain operations.
* Two-jaw gripping chucks were used on some machines. These were precursors of the three-jaw chucks used on lathes today.
* The morticing machines could be set to stop automatically once the operation was finished.
* [[Interchangeability]] of the sheaves and pins was possible, since they were not married to a particular shell.
* The work-flow is perhaps best described as [[batch production]], because of the range of block sizes demanded. But it was basically a [[production-line]] system, nevertheless. This method of working did not catch on in general manufacturing in Britain for many decades, and when it did it was imported from America.
*The entire system was designed to be worked by labourers and not apprentice-trained craftsmen. Each man was trained to operate two or more machines and could be moved round the plant as required.

==The Manufacture of the Block-making machines==
Brunel's patent specification shows wooden framed machines, which, while they show many of the principles of the machines actually installed bear little resemblance to the final designs. Once the contract with the Admiralty had been placed he engaged [[Henry Maudslay]] to make them, and it is clear the final designs had considerable input from Bentham, Maudslay, [[Simon Goodrich]], (mechanician to the Navy board) as well as Brunel himself.

These machines were almost entirely hand made, the only machine tools used being lathes to machine circular parts, and drilling machines for boring small holes. At that time there were no milling, planing or shaping machines, and all flat surfaces were made by hand chipping, filing and scraping. There is evidence that the grinding of flats was also done to get near-precision finishes. Each nut was made to fit its matching bolt and were numbered to ensure they were replaced correctly. This was before the days of [[interchangeability]], of course. The materials used were cast and wrought iron, brass and gun metal. The use of metal throughout their construction greatly improved their rigidity and accuracy which became the standard for later machine tool manufacture.

==Publicity==
These machines and the block mills attracted an enormous amount of interest from the time of their erection, ranging from Admiral [[Lord Nelson]] on the morning of the day he embarked from Portsmouth for the Battle of Trafalgar on 1805, to the Princess Victoria at the age of 12, as part of her education. Even during the time of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], until 1815 there was a stream of foreign dignitaries and military men wishing to learn. The machines were fully described and illustrated in the [[Edinburgh Encyclopaedia]], (1811), [[Rees's Cyclopaedia]], (1812), the supplement to the 4th edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (1817) and the [[Encyclopaedia Metropolitana]]. Later encyclopaedias such as [[Tomlinson's Encyclopaedia]] and the [[Penny Cyclopaedia]] derived their accounts from these earlier publications.

These accounts concentrated almost entirely on the blockmaking machinery, and ignored the saw-milling side of the mills, and in consequence modern commentators have not discussed this aspect of the Block Mills. The sawmills were important since Brunel was enabled to develop his ideas which he employed later in his private veneer mill at Battersea, and the [[Royal Navy]] saw mills at [[Woolwich Dockyard]] and [[Chatham Dockyard]], as well as mills he designed for private concerns, such as Borthwick's at [[Leith]] in Scotland.

==Later history==

The Block Mills have remained in constant Navy occupation ever since and in consequence are not open to the public. Manufacture of blocks using these machines naturally declined over the years, production finally stopping in the 1960s, but some of the original machines, part of the transmission drives and the engine-house shells still survive in the buildings. The [[National Museum of Science and Industry]], London, has a selection of machines, donated by the Admiralty between 1933 and 1951, and others are on display in the [[Dockyard Apprentice Museum]] at Portsmouth. Several websites claim that the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] also has machines from Portsmouth: this is a myth, according to the Institution.

The Block Mills have not been in use for many years, although a lot of the original pulley systems remain in situ, albeit in a poor state of repair. The building is also in a poor state of repair and is a high priority for both [[English Heritage]] and the Ministry of Defence. As of 2006 a project is underway to ensure the building and contents are preserved, if not restored.

==External links==
* [http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/enlightenment_and_measurement/05.ST.02/?scene=3&tv=true National Museum of Science and Industry, London - Making of the Modern World]
* [http://www.ingenious.org.uk Engravings from the Rees's Cyclopaedia account of the block mills]

==Printed references==

* The English Heritage reports and other documentation may be consulted as they become available in the National Monuments Record at Swindon, Wiltshire. [http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/Default.asp?WCI=Node&WCE=146]
* Gilbert, K. R. ''The Portsmouth Block-making Machinery'', London, 1965
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Production Line at Portsmouth Block Mill', in ''Industrial Archaeology Review'' VI, 1982, 28-44
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Portsmouth System of Manufacture', ''Technology and Culture'', 25, 1984, 182-225
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850'', Aldershot, 1989
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Portsmouth Block Mills : Bentham, Brunel and the start of the Royal Navy's Industrial Revolution'', 2005,ISBN 1-873592-87-6
* Wilkin, Susan, ''The application of emerging new technologies by Portsmouth Dockyard, 1790-1815'', The Open University PhD Thesis, 1999. (Copies available from the British Thesis service of the British Library)
* Cantrell, J. and Cookson, G. eds. ''Henry Maudslay and the Pioneers of the Machine Age'', Stroud, 2002

[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Hampshire]]

Portsmouth Block Mills

2008-08-17T15:13:54Z

Pyrotec: cleaned up & added image

The '''Portsmouth Block Mills''' form part of the [[Portsmouth Dockyard]] at [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]], and were built during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] to supply the British [[Royal Navy]] with [[pulley]] [[block (sailing)|block]]s. They started the age of [[mass-production]] using all-metal [[machine tool]]s and are regarded as one of the seminal buildings of the British [[Industrial Revolution]]. They are also the site of the first [[stationary steam engine]]s used by the [[Admiralty]].

Since 2003 [[English Heritage]] has been undertaking a detailed survey of the buildings and the records relating to the machines.

==Development of Portsmouth Dockyard==
The [[Royal Navy]] had evolved by the middle of the eighteenth century into what has been described as the greatest industrial power in the western world. The [[Admiralty]] and Navy Board began a programme of modernisation of dockyards at [[Portsmouth Dockyard|Portsmouth]] and [[Plymouth]], and by the start of the war with Revolutionary France possessed the most up-to-date fleet facilities in Europe.

The Dock system at Portsmouth has its origins in the work of [[Edmund Dummer]] in the 1690s. He constructed a series of basins, and wet and [[dry dock]]s. Alterations were made to these in the course of the eighteenth century. One of the basins had become redundant by 1770, and it was proposed to use this as a sump into which all the water from the other facilities could drain. The water was pumped out by a series of horse-operated [[chain pumps]].

In 1795, Brigadier-General Sir [[Samuel Bentham]] was appointed by the Admiralty, the first and only [[Inspector General of Naval Works]] with the task of continuing this modernisation, and in particular the introduction of steam power and mechanising the production processes in the dockyard. His office employed several specialists as his assistants - Mechanist ([[engineer]]), Draughtsmen, [[Architect]], [[Chemist]], Clerks, etc. The Inspector General's office was responsible for the introduction at Portsmouth of plant for the rolling of [[copper]] plates for sheathing ships, and for forging-mills for the production of metal parts used in the construction of vessels. They also introduced similar modernisation at the other Naval dockyards.

By 1797 work had started on building additional dry docks and on deepening the basins, and Bentham realised that the existing drainage system would not cope with the increased demand. He installed a steam engine designed by a member of his staff, [[James Sadler]], in 1798 which, as well as working the chain pumps, drove woodworking machinery and a pump to take water from a well round the dockyard for fire-fighting purposes. This well was some {{convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on}} away, and the pumps operated by a horizontal reciprocating wooden spear housed in a tunnel running from the engine house to the top of the well. The Sadler engine was a house-built [[table engine]] installed in a single-storey engine house with integral boiler; it replaced one of the horse-drives to the chain pumps. This engine was replaced in 1807 in the same house by another, more powerful, table engine made by [[Matthew Murray|Fenton, Murray and Wood]] of [[Leeds]], and in turn in 1830 by a [[Maudslay]] beam engine.

In 1800 a [[Boulton and Watt]] beam engine was ordered as back-up and was housed in a three-storey engine house in line with the Sadler engine house. This engine was replaced in 1837 by another engine made by [[James Watt and Co]].

Space was very tight and expansion of manufacturing facilities was not possible, so by 1802 the drainage basin was filled with two tiers of brick vaults - the lower layer to act as the reservoir, the upper layer as storage, and the roof of the latter being level with the surrounding land, so creating more space. This allowed the construction of two parallel ranges of three-storey wood mills, the southern to incorporate both engine houses and their chimney stacks, the chain pumps and some wood working machinery. The northern range was directly over the vaults and was to house more woodworking machinery. The buildings were designed by [[Samuel Bunce]], the architect of Bentham's staff.

While the vaults were under construction Bentham was ordering woodworking machinery of his own design, mostly up-and-down saws and circular saws. These were fitted-up in both ranges, the power to drive them being transmitted from the engines to the north range by underdrives through the upper layer of vaults, and then by vertical shafts to the upper floors of the buildings. The final drives to the machines was by flat belts running on pulleys.

This machinery was planned to cut timber for the numerous smaller parts used in shipbuilding, especially joinery, which had previously been cut by hand, such as components for tables and benches, as well as small turned goods like belaying pins. There is evidence that he had developed a rotary wood-planing machine, but details of this are obscure. There is also evidence that the complex housed a pipe boring machine, whereby straight elm trees were bored out for pump dales. These could be up to 40 ft long and were fitted through the decks of a vessel to pump seawater to the deck. There was a machine for making treenails - long wooden dowels used for fixing wooden parts of a ship together.

==Blocks==
[[Image:Bird on block.jpg|thumb|left|A wooden block]]
The Royal Navy used large numbers of [[block (sailing)|block]]s, which were all hand-made by contractors. Their quality was not consistent, the supply problematic and they were expensive. A typical ship of the line needed about 1000 blocks of different sizes, and in the course of the year the Navy required over 100,000. Bentham had devised some machines for making blocks, but did not develop them and details of how they worked are now obscure. In 1802 [[Marc Isambard Brunel]] proposed to the Admiralty a system of making blocks using machinery he had [[patent]]ed. Bentham appreciated the superiority of Brunel's system and in August 1802 he was authorised by the Admiralty to proceed.

There were three series of block-making machines, each designed to make a range of block sizes. They were laid out to allow a production line, so each stage of the work progressed to the next in a natural flow. The yard between the two wood mill buildings was walled-off and roofed to form a new workshop to house the block-making machines.

The first set, for medium blocks, was installed in January 1803, the second set for smaller blocks in May 1803, and the third set for large blocks in March 1805. There were numerous changes of layout and some modification of the plant until in September 1807 the plant was felt able to fulfil all the needs of the Navy: In 1808 130,000 blocks were produced.

==The block-making processes using the machines==
A pulley-block has four parts: the shell, the sheave, the pin for locating the latter in the shell and a metal bush, or coak, inserted into the sheave to save wear between it and the pin. Blocks can vary in size and in the number of sheaves.

'''The process of making the shells'''
* Cut slices from the trunk of a tree, and from these slices by means of the circular saws cut rectangular blocks from which the shells were manufactured.
* Bore a hole in the block for the pin, and at right angles to this a hole or holes to receive the morticing chisels,(depending on the number of mortices). The clamp used to hold the block at the same time indented locating points by which the blocks were secured in the later machines, thus ensuring consistent location and measurement in the subsequent processes.
* Mortice the blocks by a self-acting machine. The morticing chisel reciprocated vertically, and at the same time the vice gripping the block was gradually moved each cut. Once the length of the mortice had been cut the machine automatically stopped to allow the block to be replaced with a new one.
* Cut the corners off the block by a circular saw with angled guides.
* Shape the 4 faces of the blocks to a shallow curve. This was done by a machine where a number of blocks were clamped in the periphery of a revolving wheel. The cutter was swept in a curve across the faces of the blocks as they rotated. The radius of the curve was controlled by a former. After each cut the blocks were turned 90 degrees to bring up a new face.
* Each block was then placed in a machine which scored a shallow groove, by means of a revolving cutter, to give a location for the securing ropes.

'''The process of making the sheaves'''
* Cut a slice across a trunk of Lignum Vitae. The machine for this allowed the log to be rotated at the same time as the circular saw operated, ensuring that an equal thickness was maintained. The position of the log for each new cut was controlled by a leadscrew ensuring great accuracy.
* Make a circular disc from this slice by means of a rounding saw, which simultaneously bored out the middle and shaped the outer edge.
* Mill out from each face a profile to take the outer face of the coak
* The coak was inserted into the sheave, and a retaining ring rivetted to keep it in place.
* Broach out the hole in the coak to the size of the requisite pin.
* The finished sheave was faced-off on both sides in a special lathe, and the rope groove was machined on the edge.

'''The process of making the pins'''
* The pin blanks were forged slightly oversize with a square left on one end.
* They were turned to size on the circular part in a special lathe.
* They were given a burnished finish between hardened dies
* One source says they were then tinned to preserve them from rust.

'''The process of making the metal coaks'''
* These were cast in bell-metal and the mould left grease-retaining grooves in the inner bore. One end of the coak had a flange and a loose ring was supplied for the other end, together these parts gave a seating for the rivets which fixed the coak to the sheave.

'''Assembly process'''
* The shells were smoothed by hand with a spoke shave and then the sheave and pin assembled. They were stored in the Block Mills and issued as demanded.

==Significant features==
These machines utilised several features for the first time which have since become commonplace in machine design.
* The boring operation indented gauging points in the wooden blocks which the clamps of the later machines used to locate the blocks precicely. This meant that positioning of the block in later processes ensured accurate location in relation to the tool working on it.
* Several of the machines had cone clutches.
* Brunel used detachable tool bits held in tool holders very similar to those use now on general purpose lathes.
* Expanding collet chucks were used to locate the sheaves by gripping the internal bore, during certain operations.
* Two-jaw gripping chucks were used on some machines. These were precursors of the three-jaw chucks used on lathes today.
* The morticing machines could be set to stop automatically once the operation was finished.
* [[Interchangeability]] of the sheaves and pins was possible, since they were not married to a particular shell.
* The work-flow is perhaps best described as [[batch production]], because of the range of block sizes demanded. But it was basically a [[production-line]] system, nevertheless. This method of working did not catch on in general manufacturing in Britain for many decades, and when it did it was imported from America.
*The entire system was designed to be worked by labourers and not apprentice-trained craftsmen. Each man was trained to operate two or more machines and could be moved round the plant as required.

==The Manufacture of the Block-making machines==
Brunel's patent specification shows wooden framed machines, which, while they show many of the principles of the machines actually installed bear little resemblance to the final designs. Once the contract with the Admiralty had been placed he engaged [[Henry Maudslay]] to make them, and it is clear the final designs had considerable input from Bentham, Maudslay, [[Simon Goodrich]], (mechanician to the Navy board) as well as Brunel himself.

These machines were almost entirely hand made, the only machine tools used being lathes to machine circular parts, and drilling machines for boring small holes. At that time there were no milling, planing or shaping machines, and all flat surfaces were made by hand chipping, filing and scraping. There is evidence that the grinding of flats was also done to get near-precision finishes. Each nut was made to fit its matching bolt and were numbered to ensure they were replaced correctly. This was before the days of [[interchangeability]], of course. The materials used were cast and wrought iron, brass and gun metal. The use of metal throughout their construction greatly improved their rigidity and accuracy which became the standard for later machine tool manufacture.

==Publicity==
These machines and the block mills attracted an enormous amount of interest from the time of their erection, ranging from Admiral [[Lord Nelson]] on the morning of the day he embarked from Portsmouth for the Battle of Trafalgar on 1805, to the Princess Victoria at the age of 12, as part of her education. Even during the time of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], until 1815 there was a stream of foreign dignitaries and military men wishing to learn. The machines were fully described and illustrated in the [[Edinburgh Encyclopaedia]], (1811), [[Rees's Cyclopaedia]], (1812), the supplement to the 4th edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (1817) and the [[Encyclopaedia Metropolitana]]. Later encyclopaedias such as [[Tomlinson's Encyclopaedia]] and the [[Penny Cyclopaedia]] derived their accounts from these earlier publications.

These accounts concentrated almost entirely on the blockmaking machinery, and ignored the saw-milling side of the mills, and in consequence modern commentators have not discussed this aspect of the Block Mills. The sawmills were important since Brunel was enabled to develop his ideas which he employed later in his private veneer mill at Battersea, and the [[Royal Navy]] saw mills at [[Woolwich Dockyard]] and [[Chatham Dockyard]], as well as mills he designed for private concerns, such as Borthwick's at [[Leith]] in Scotland.

==Later history==

The Block Mills have remained in constant Navy occupation ever since and in consequence are not open to the public. Manufacture of blocks using these machines naturally declined over the years, production finally stopping in the 1960s, but some of the original machines, part of the transmission drives and the engine-house shells still survive in the buildings. The [[National Museum of Science and Industry]], London, has a selection of machines, donated by the Admiralty between 1933 and 1951, and others are on display in the [[Dockyard Apprentice Museum]] at Portsmouth. Several websites claim that the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] also has machines from Portsmouth: this is a myth, according to the Institution.

The Block Mills have not been in use for many years, although a lot of the original pulley systems remain in situ, albeit in a poor state of repair. The building is also in a poor state of repair and is a high priority for both English Heritage and the Ministry of Defence. As of 2006 a project is underway to ensure the building and contents are preserved, if not restored.

==External links==
* [http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/enlightenment_and_measurement/05.ST.02/?scene=3&tv=true National Museum of Science and Industry, London - Making of the Modern World]
* [http://www.ingenious.org.uk Engravings from the Rees's Cyclopaedia account of the block mills]

==Printed references==

* The English Heritage reports and other documentation may be consulted as they become available in the National Monuments Record at Swindon, Wiltshire. [http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/Default.asp?WCI=Node&WCE=146]
* Gilbert, K. R. ''The Portsmouth Block-making Machinery'', London, 1965
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Production Line at Portsmouth Block Mill', in ''Industrial Archaeology Review'' VI, 1982, 28-44
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Portsmouth System of Manufacture', ''Technology and Culture'', 25, 1984, 182-225
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850'', Aldershot, 1989
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Portsmouth Block Mills : Bentham, Brunel and the start of the Royal Navy's Industrial Revolution'', 2005,ISBN 1-873592-87-6
* Wilkin, Susan, ''The application of emerging new technologies by Portsmouth Dockyard, 1790-1815'', The Open University PhD Thesis, 1999. (Copies available from the British Thesis service of the British Library)
* Cantrell, J. and Cookson, G. eds. ''Henry Maudslay and the Pioneers of the Machine Age'', Stroud, 2002

[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Hampshire]]

Portsmouth Block Mills

2008-08-17T15:07:07Z

Pyrotec: minor copyedit

The '''Portsmouth Block Mills''' form part of the [[Portsmouth Dockyard]] at [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]], and were built during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] to supply the British [[Royal Navy]] with [[pulley]] [[block (sailing)|block]]s. They started the age of [[mass-production]] using all-metal [[machine tool]]s and are regarded as one of the seminal buildings of the British [[Industrial Revolution]]. They are also the site of the first [[stationary steam engine]]s used by the [[Admiralty]].

Since 2003 [[English Heritage]] has been undertaking a detailed survey of the buildings and the records relating to the machines.

==History==
The [[Royal Navy]] had evolved by the middle of the eighteenth century into what has been described as the greatest industrial power in the western world. The Admiralty and Navy Board began a programme of modernisation of dockyards at Portsmouth and [[Plymouth]], and by the start of the war with Revolutionary France possessed the most up-to-date fleet facilities in Europe.

The Dock system at Portsmouth has its origins in the work of [[Edmund Dummer]] in the 1690s. He constructed a series of basins, and wet and [[dry dock]]s. Alterations were made to these in the course of the eighteenth century. One of the basins had become redundant by 1770, and it was proposed to use this as a sump into which all the water from the other facilities could drain. The water was pumped out by a series of horse-operated [[chain pumps]].

In 1795, Brigadier-General Sir [[Samuel Bentham]] was appointed by the Admiralty, the first and only [[Inspector General of Naval Works]] with the task of continuing this modernisation, and in particular the introduction of steam power and mechanising the production processes in the dockyard. His office employed several specialists as his assistants - Mechanist ([[engineer]]), Draughtsmen, [[Architect]], [[Chemist]], Clerks, etc. The Inspector General's office was responsible for the introduction at Portsmouth of plant for the rolling of [[copper]] plates for sheathing ships, and for forging-mills for the production of metal parts used in the construction of vessels. They also introduced similar modernisation at the other Naval dockyards.

By 1797 work had started on building additional dry docks and on deepening the basins, and Bentham realised that the existing drainage system would not cope with the increased demand. He installed a steam engine designed by a member of his staff, [[James Sadler]], in 1798 which, as well as working the chain pumps, drove woodworking machinery and a pump to take water from a well round the dockyard for fire-fighting purposes. This well was some {{convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on}} away, and the pumps operated by a horizontal reciprocating wooden spear housed in a tunnel running from the engine house to the top of the well. The Sadler engine was a house-built [[table engine]] installed in a single-storey engine house with integral boiler; it replaced one of the horse-drives to the chain pumps. This engine was replaced in 1807 in the same house by another, more powerful, table engine made by [[Matthew Murray|Fenton, Murray and Wood]] of [[Leeds]], and in turn in 1830 by a [[Maudslay]] beam engine.

In 1800 a [[Boulton and Watt]] beam engine was ordered as back-up and was housed in a three-storey engine house in line with the Sadler engine house. This engine was replaced in 1837 by another engine made by [[James Watt and Co]].

Space was very tight and expansion of manufacturing facilities was not possible, so by 1802 the drainage basin was filled with two tiers of brick vaults - the lower layer to act as the reservoir, the upper layer as storage, and the roof of the latter being level with the surrounding land, so creating more space. This allowed the construction of two parallel ranges of three-storey wood mills, the southern to incorporate both engine houses and their chimney stacks, the chain pumps and some wood working machinery. The northern range was directly over the vaults and was to house more woodworking machinery. The buildings were designed by [[Samuel Bunce]], the architect of Bentham's staff.

While the vaults were under construction Bentham was ordering woodworking machinery of his own design, mostly up-and-down saws and circular saws. These were fitted-up in both ranges, the power to drive them being transmitted from the engines to the north range by underdrives through the upper layer of vaults, and then by vertical shafts to the upper floors of the buildings. The final drives to the machines was by flat belts running on pulleys.

This machinery was planned to cut timber for the numerous smaller parts used in shipbuilding, especially joinery, which had previously been cut by hand, such as components for tables and benches, as well as small turned goods like belaying pins. There is evidence that he had developed a rotary wood-planing machine, but details of this are obscure. There is also evidence that the complex housed a pipe boring machine, whereby straight elm trees were bored out for pump dales. These could be up to 40 ft long and were fitted through the decks of a vessel to pump seawater to the deck. There was a machine for making treenails - long wooden dowels used for fixing wooden parts of a ship together.

The Royal Navy used large numbers of [[block (sailing)|block]]s, which were all hand-made by contractors. Their quality was not consistent, the supply problematic and they were expensive. A typical ship of the line needed about 1000 blocks of different sizes, and in the course of the year the Navy required over 100,000. Bentham had devised some machines for making blocks, but did not develop them and details of how they worked are now obscure. In 1802 [[Marc Isambard Brunel]] proposed to the Admiralty a system of making blocks using machinery he had patented. Bentham appreciated the superiority of Brunel's system and in August 1802 he was authorised by the Admiralty to proceed.

There were three series of block-making machines, each designed to make a range of block sizes. They were laid out to allow a production line, so each stage of the work progressed to the next in a natural flow. The yard between the two wood mill buildings was walled-off and roofed to form a new workshop to house the block-making machines.

The first set, for medium blocks, was installed in January 1803, the second set for smaller blocks in May 1803, and the third set for large blocks in March 1805. There were numerous changes of layout and some modification of the plant until in September 1807 the plant was felt able to fulfil all the needs of the Navy: In 1808 130,000 blocks were produced.

==The block-making processes using the machines==
A pulley-block has four parts: the shell, the sheave, the pin for locating the latter in the shell and a metal bush, or coak, inserted into the sheave to save wear between it and the pin. Blocks can vary in size and in the number of sheaves.

'''The process of making the shells'''
* Cut slices from the trunk of a tree, and from these slices by means of the circular saws cut rectangular blocks from which the shells were manufactured.
* Bore a hole in the block for the pin, and at right angles to this a hole or holes to receive the morticing chisels,(depending on the number of mortices). The clamp used to hold the block at the same time indented locating points by which the blocks were secured in the later machines, thus ensuring consistent location and measurement in the subsequent processes.
* Mortice the blocks by a self-acting machine. The morticing chisel reciprocated vertically, and at the same time the vice gripping the block was gradually moved each cut. Once the length of the mortice had been cut the machine automatically stopped to allow the block to be replaced with a new one.
* Cut the corners off the block by a circular saw with angled guides.
* Shape the 4 faces of the blocks to a shallow curve. This was done by a machine where a number of blocks were clamped in the periphery of a revolving wheel. The cutter was swept in a curve across the faces of the blocks as they rotated. The radius of the curve was controlled by a former. After each cut the blocks were turned 90 degrees to bring up a new face.
* Each block was then placed in a machine which scored a shallow groove, by means of a revolving cutter, to give a location for the securing ropes.

'''The process of making the sheaves'''
* Cut a slice across a trunk of Lignum Vitae. The machine for this allowed the log to be rotated at the same time as the circular saw operated, ensuring that an equal thickness was maintained. The position of the log for each new cut was controlled by a leadscrew ensuring great accuracy.
* Make a circular disc from this slice by means of a rounding saw, which simultaneously bored out the middle and shaped the outer edge.
* Mill out from each face a profile to take the outer face of the coak
* The coak was inserted into the sheave, and a retaining ring rivetted to keep it in place.
* Broach out the hole in the coak to the size of the requisite pin.
* The finished sheave was faced-off on both sides in a special lathe, and the rope groove was machined on the edge.

'''The process of making the pins'''
* The pin blanks were forged slightly oversize with a square left on one end.
* They were turned to size on the circular part in a special lathe.
* They were given a burnished finish between hardened dies
* One source says they were then tinned to preserve them from rust.

'''The process of making the metal coaks'''
* These were cast in bell-metal and the mould left grease-retaining grooves in the inner bore. One end of the coak had a flange and a loose ring was supplied for the other end, together these parts gave a seating for the rivets which fixed the coak to the sheave.

'''Assembly process'''
* The shells were smoothed by hand with a spoke shave and then the sheave and pin assembled. They were stored in the Block Mills and issued as demanded.

==Significant features==
These machines utilised several features for the first time which have since become commonplace in machine design.
* The boring operation indented gauging points in the wooden blocks which the clamps of the later machines used to locate the blocks precicely. This meant that positioning of the block in later processes ensured accurate location in relation to the tool working on it.
* Several of the machines had cone clutches.
* Brunel used detachable tool bits held in tool holders very similar to those use now on general purpose lathes.
* Expanding collet chucks were used to locate the sheaves by gripping the internal bore, during certain operations.
* Two-jaw gripping chucks were used on some machines. These were precursors of the three-jaw chucks used on lathes today.
* The morticing machines could be set to stop automatically once the operation was finished.
* [[Interchangeability]] of the sheaves and pins was possible, since they were not married to a particular shell.
* The work-flow is perhaps best described as [[batch production]], because of the range of block sizes demanded. But it was basically a [[production-line]] system, nevertheless. This method of working did not catch on in general manufacturing in Britain for many decades, and when it did it was imported from America.
*The entire system was designed to be worked by labourers and not apprentice-trained craftsmen. Each man was trained to operate two or more machines and could be moved round the plant as required.

==The Manufacture of the Block-making machines==
Brunel's patent specification shows wooden framed machines, which, while they show many of the principles of the machines actually installed bear little resemblance to the final designs. Once the contract with the Admiralty had been placed he engaged [[Henry Maudslay]] to make them, and it is clear the final designs had considerable input from Bentham, Maudslay, [[Simon Goodrich]], (mechanician to the Navy board) as well as Brunel himself.

These machines were almost entirely hand made, the only machine tools used being lathes to machine circular parts, and drilling machines for boring small holes. At that time there were no milling, planing or shaping machines, and all flat surfaces were made by hand chipping, filing and scraping. There is evidence that the grinding of flats was also done to get near-precision finishes. Each nut was made to fit its matching bolt and were numbered to ensure they were replaced correctly. This was before the days of [[interchangeability]], of course. The materials used were cast and wrought iron, brass and gun metal. The use of metal throughout their construction greatly improved their rigidity and accuracy which became the standard for later machine tool manufacture.

==Publicity==
These machines and the block mills attracted an enormous amount of interest from the time of their erection, ranging from Admiral [[Lord Nelson]] on the morning of the day he embarked from Portsmouth for the Battle of Trafalgar on 1805, to the Princess Victoria at the age of 12, as part of her education. Even during the time of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], until 1815 there was a stream of foreign dignitaries and military men wishing to learn. The machines were fully described and illustrated in the [[Edinburgh Encyclopaedia]], (1811), [[Rees's Cyclopaedia]], (1812), the supplement to the 4th edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (1817) and the [[Encyclopaedia Metropolitana]]. Later encyclopaedias such as [[Tomlinson's Encyclopaedia]] and the [[Penny Cyclopaedia]] derived their accounts from these earlier publications.

These accounts concentrated almost entirely on the blockmaking machinery, and ignored the saw-milling side of the mills, and in consequence modern commentators have not discussed this aspect of the Block Mills. The sawmills were important since Brunel was enabled to develop his ideas which he employed later in his private veneer mill at Battersea, and the [[Royal Navy]] saw mills at [[Woolwich Dockyard]] and [[Chatham Dockyard]], as well as mills he designed for private concerns, such as Borthwick's at [[Leith]] in Scotland.

==Later history==

The Block Mills have remained in constant Navy occupation ever since and in consequence are not open to the public. Manufacture of blocks using these machines naturally declined over the years, production finally stopping in the 1960s, but some of the original machines, part of the transmission drives and the engine-house shells still survive in the buildings. The [[National Museum of Science and Industry]], London, has a selection of machines, donated by the Admiralty between 1933 and 1951, and others are on display in the [[Dockyard Apprentice Museum]] at Portsmouth. Several websites claim that the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] also has machines from Portsmouth: this is a myth, according to the Institution.

The Block Mills have not been in use for many years, although a lot of the original pulley systems remain in situ, albeit in a poor state of repair. The building is also in a poor state of repair and is a high priority for both English Heritage and the Ministry of Defence. As of 2006 a project is underway to ensure the building and contents are preserved, if not restored.

==External links==
* [http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/enlightenment_and_measurement/05.ST.02/?scene=3&tv=true National Museum of Science and Industry, London - Making of the Modern World]
* [http://www.ingenious.org.uk Engravings from the Rees's Cyclopaedia account of the block mills]

==Printed references==

* The English Heritage reports and other documentation may be consulted as they become available in the National Monuments Record at Swindon, Wiltshire. [http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/Default.asp?WCI=Node&WCE=146]
* Gilbert, K. R. ''The Portsmouth Block-making Machinery'', London, 1965
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Production Line at Portsmouth Block Mill', in ''Industrial Archaeology Review'' VI, 1982, 28-44
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Portsmouth System of Manufacture', ''Technology and Culture'', 25, 1984, 182-225
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850'', Aldershot, 1989
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Portsmouth Block Mills : Bentham, Brunel and the start of the Royal Navy's Industrial Revolution'', 2005,ISBN 1-873592-87-6
* Wilkin, Susan, ''The application of emerging new technologies by Portsmouth Dockyard, 1790-1815'', The Open University PhD Thesis, 1999. (Copies available from the British Thesis service of the British Library)
* Cantrell, J. and Cookson, G. eds. ''Henry Maudslay and the Pioneers of the Machine Age'', Stroud, 2002

[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Hampshire]]

Portsmouth Block Mills

2008-08-17T15:04:14Z

Pyrotec: /* Publicity */ updated links

The '''Portsmouth Block Mills''' form part of the [[Portsmouth Dockyard]] at [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]], and were built during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] to supply the British [[Royal Navy]] with [[pulley]] [[block (sailing)|block]]s. They started the age of [[mass-production]] using all-metal [[machine tool]]s and are regarded as one of the seminal buildings of the British [[Industrial Revolution]]. They are also the site of the first [[stationary steam engine]]s used by the [[Admiralty]].

Since 2003 [[English Heritage]] has been undertaking a detailed survey of the buildings and the records relating to the machines.

==History==

The Royal Navy had evolved by the middle of the eighteenth century into what has been described as the greatest industrial power in the western world. The Admiralty and Navy Board began a programme of modernisation of dockyards at Portsmouth and [[Plymouth]], and by the start of the war with Revolutionary France possessed the most up-to-date fleet facilities in Europe.

The Dock system at Portsmouth has its origins in the work of [[Edmund Dummer]] in the 1690s. He constructed a series of basins, and wet and [[dry dock]]s. Alterations were made to these in the course of the eighteenth century. One of the basins had become redundant by 1770, and it was proposed to use this as a sump into which all the water from the other facilities could drain. The water was pumped out by a series of horse-operated [[chain pumps]].

In 1795, Brigadier-General Sir [[Samuel Bentham]] was appointed by the Admiralty, the first and only [[Inspector General of Naval Works]] with the task of continuing this modernisation, and in particular the introduction of steam power and mechanising the production processes in the dockyard. His office employed several specialists as his assistants - Mechanist ([[engineer]]), Draughtsmen, [[Architect]], [[Chemist]], Clerks, etc. The Inspector General's office was responsible for the introduction at Portsmouth of plant for the rolling of [[copper]] plates for sheathing ships, and for forging-mills for the production of metal parts used in the construction of vessels. They also introduced similar modernisation at the other Naval dockyards.

By 1797 work had started on building additional dry docks and on deepening the basins, and Bentham realised that the existing drainage system would not cope with the increased demand. He installed a steam engine designed by a member of his staff, [[James Sadler]], in 1798 which, as well as working the chain pumps, drove woodworking machinery and a pump to take water from a well round the dockyard for fire-fighting purposes. This well was some {{convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on}} away, and the pumps operated by a horizontal reciprocating wooden spear housed in a tunnel running from the engine house to the top of the well. The Sadler engine was a house-built [[table engine]] installed in a single-storey engine house with integral boiler; it replaced one of the horse-drives to the chain pumps. This engine was replaced in 1807 in the same house by another, more powerful, table engine made by [[Matthew Murray|Fenton, Murray and Wood]] of [[Leeds]], and in turn in 1830 by a [[Maudslay]] beam engine.

In 1800 a [[Boulton and Watt]] beam engine was ordered as back-up and was housed in a three-storey engine house in line with the Sadler engine house. This engine was replaced in 1837 by another engine made by [[James Watt and Co]].

Space was very tight and expansion of manufacturing facilities was not possible, so by 1802 the drainage basin was filled with two tiers of brick vaults - the lower layer to act as the reservoir, the upper layer as storage, and the roof of the latter being level with the surrounding land, so creating more space. This allowed the construction of two parallel ranges of three-storey wood mills, the southern to incorporate both engine houses and their chimney stacks, the chain pumps and some wood working machinery. The northern range was directly over the vaults and was to house more woodworking machinery. The buildings were designed by [[Samuel Bunce]], the architect of Bentham's staff.

While the vaults were under construction Bentham was ordering woodworking machinery of his own design, mostly up-and-down saws and circular saws. These were fitted-up in both ranges, the power to drive them being transmitted from the engines to the north range by underdrives through the upper layer of vaults, and then by vertical shafts to the upper floors of the buildings. The final drives to the machines was by flat belts running on pulleys.

This machinery was planned to cut timber for the numerous smaller parts used in shipbuilding, especially joinery, which had previously been cut by hand, such as components for tables and benches, as well as small turned goods like belaying pins. There is evidence that he had developed a rotary wood-planing machine, but details of this are obscure. There is also evidence that the complex housed a pipe boring machine, whereby straight elm trees were bored out for pump dales. These could be up to 40 ft long and were fitted through the decks of a vessel to pump seawater to the deck. There was a machine for making treenails - long wooden dowels used for fixing wooden parts of a ship together.

The Navy used large numbers of [[block (sailing)|block]]s, which were all hand-made by contractors. Their quality was not consistent, the supply problematic and they were expensive. A typical ship of the line needed about 1000 blocks of different sizes, and in the course of the year the Navy required over 100,000. Bentham had devised some machines for making blocks, but did not develop them and details of how they worked are now obscure. In 1802 [[Marc Isambard Brunel]] proposed to the Admiralty a system of making blocks using machinery he had patented. Bentham appreciated the superiority of Brunel's system and in August 1802 he was authorised by the Admiralty to proceed.

There were three series of block-making machines, each designed to make a range of block sizes. They were laid out to allow a production line, so each stage of the work progressed to the next in a natural flow. The yard between the two wood mill buildings was walled-off and roofed to form a new workshop to house the block-making machines.

The first set, for medium blocks, was installed in January 1803, the second set for smaller blocks in May 1803, and the third set for large blocks in March 1805. There were numerous changes of layout and some modification of the plant until in September 1807 the plant was felt able to fulfil all the needs of the Navy: In 1808 130,000 blocks were produced.

==The block-making processes using the machines==

A pulley-block has four parts: the shell, the sheave, the pin for locating the latter in the shell and a metal bush, or coak, inserted into the sheave to save wear between it and the pin. Blocks can vary in size and in the number of sheaves.

'''The process of making the shells'''
* Cut slices from the trunk of a tree, and from these slices by means of the circular saws cut rectangular blocks from which the shells were manufactured.
* Bore a hole in the block for the pin, and at right angles to this a hole or holes to receive the morticing chisels,(depending on the number of mortices). The clamp used to hold the block at the same time indented locating points by which the blocks were secured in the later machines, thus ensuring consistent location and measurement in the subsequent processes.
* Mortice the blocks by a self-acting machine. The morticing chisel reciprocated vertically, and at the same time the vice gripping the block was gradually moved each cut. Once the length of the mortice had been cut the machine automatically stopped to allow the block to be replaced with a new one.
* Cut the corners off the block by a circular saw with angled guides.
* Shape the 4 faces of the blocks to a shallow curve. This was done by a machine where a number of blocks were clamped in the periphery of a revolving wheel. The cutter was swept in a curve across the faces of the blocks as they rotated. The radius of the curve was controlled by a former. After each cut the blocks were turned 90 degrees to bring up a new face.
* Each block was then placed in a machine which scored a shallow groove, by means of a revolving cutter, to give a location for the securing ropes.

'''The process of making the sheaves'''
* Cut a slice across a trunk of Lignum Vitae. The machine for this allowed the log to be rotated at the same time as the circular saw operated, ensuring that an equal thickness was maintained. The position of the log for each new cut was controlled by a leadscrew ensuring great accuracy.
* Make a circular disc from this slice by means of a rounding saw, which simultaneously bored out the middle and shaped the outer edge.
* Mill out from each face a profile to take the outer face of the coak
* The coak was inserted into the sheave, and a retaining ring rivetted to keep it in place.
* Broach out the hole in the coak to the size of the requisite pin.
* The finished sheave was faced-off on both sides in a special lathe, and the rope groove was machined on the edge.

'''The process of making the pins'''
* The pin blanks were forged slightly oversize with a square left on one end.
* They were turned to size on the circular part in a special lathe.
* They were given a burnished finish between hardened dies
* One source says they were then tinned to preserve them from rust.

'''The process of making the metal coaks'''
* These were cast in bell-metal and the mould left grease-retaining grooves in the inner bore. One end of the coak had a flange and a loose ring was supplied for the other end, together these parts gave a seating for the rivets which fixed the coak to the sheave.

'''Assembly process'''
* The shells were smoothed by hand with a spoke shave and then the sheave and pin assembled. They were stored in the Block Mills and issued as demanded.

==Significant features==

These machines utilised several features for the first time which have since become commonplace in machine design.
* The boring operation indented gauging points in the wooden blocks which the clamps of the later machines used to locate the blocks precicely. This meant that positioning of the block in later processes ensured accurate location in relation to the tool working on it.
* Several of the machines had cone clutches.
* Brunel used detachable tool bits held in tool holders very similar to those use now on general purpose lathes.
* Expanding collet chucks were used to locate the sheaves by gripping the internal bore, during certain operations.
* Two-jaw gripping chucks were used on some machines. These were precursors of the three-jaw chucks used on lathes today.
* The morticing machines could be set to stop automatically once the operation was finished.
* [[Interchangeability]] of the sheaves and pins was possible, since they were not married to a particular shell.
* The work-flow is perhaps best described as [[batch production]], because of the range of block sizes demanded. But it was basically a [[production-line]] system, nevertheless. This method of working did not catch on in general manufacturing in Britain for many decades, and when it did it was imported from America.
*The entire system was designed to be worked by labourers and not apprentice-trained craftsmen. Each man was trained to operate two or more machines and could be moved round the plant as required.

==The Manufacture of the Block-making machines==

Brunel's patent specification shows wooden framed machines, which, while they show many of the principles of the machines actually installed bear little resemblance to the final designs. Once the contract with the Admiralty had been placed he engaged [[Henry Maudslay]] to make them, and it is clear the final designs had considerable input from Bentham, Maudslay, [[Simon Goodrich]], (mechanician to the Navy board) as well as Brunel himself.

These machines were almost entirely hand made, the only machine tools used being lathes to machine circular parts, and drilling machines for boring small holes. At that time there were no milling, planing or shaping machines, and all flat surfaces were made by hand chipping, filing and scraping. There is evidence that the grinding of flats was also done to get near-precision finishes. Each nut was made to fit its matching bolt and were numbered to ensure they were replaced correctly. This was before the days of [[interchangeability]], of course. The materials used were cast and wrought iron, brass and gun metal. The use of metal throughout their construction greatly improved their rigidity and accuracy which became the standard for later machine tool manufacture.

==Publicity==

These machines and the block mills attracted an enormous amount of interest from the time of their erection, ranging from Admiral Lord Nelson on the morning of the day he embarked from Portsmouth for the Battle of Trafalgar on 1805, to the Princess Victoria at the age of 12, as part of her education. Even during the time of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], until 1815 there was a stream of foreign dignitaries and military men wishing to learn. The machines were fully described and illustrated in the [[Edinburgh Encyclopaedia]], (1811), [[Rees's Cyclopaedia]], (1812), the supplement to the 4th edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (1817) and the [[Encyclopaedia Metropolitana]]. Later encyclopaedias such as [[Tomlinson's Encyclopaedia]] and the [[Penny Cyclopaedia]] derived their accounts from these earlier publications.

These accounts concentrated almost entirely on the blockmaking machinery, and ignored the saw-milling side of the mills, and in consequence modern commentators have not discussed this aspect of the Block Mills. The sawmills were important since Brunel was enabled to develop his ideas which he employed later in his private veneer mill at Battersea, and the [[Royal Navy]] saw mills at [[Woolwich Dockyard]] and [[Chatham Dockyard]], as well as mills he designed for private concerns, such as Borthwick's at [[Leith]] in Scotland.

==Later history==

The Block Mills have remained in constant Navy occupation ever since and in consequence are not open to the public. Manufacture of blocks using these machines naturally declined over the years, production finally stopping in the 1960s, but some of the original machines, part of the transmission drives and the engine-house shells still survive in the buildings. The [[National Museum of Science and Industry]], London, has a selection of machines, donated by the Admiralty between 1933 and 1951, and others are on display in the [[Dockyard Apprentice Museum]] at Portsmouth. Several websites claim that the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] also has machines from Portsmouth: this is a myth, according to the Institution.

The Block Mills have not been in use for many years, although a lot of the original pulley systems remain in situ, albeit in a poor state of repair. The building is also in a poor state of repair and is a high priority for both English Heritage and the Ministry of Defence. As of 2006 a project is underway to ensure the building and contents are preserved, if not restored.

==External links==
* [http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/enlightenment_and_measurement/05.ST.02/?scene=3&tv=true National Museum of Science and Industry, London - Making of the Modern World]
* [http://www.ingenious.org.uk Engravings from the Rees's Cyclopaedia account of the block mills]

==Printed references==

* The English Heritage reports and other documentation may be consulted as they become available in the National Monuments Record at Swindon, Wiltshire. [http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/Default.asp?WCI=Node&WCE=146]
* Gilbert, K. R. ''The Portsmouth Block-making Machinery'', London, 1965
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Production Line at Portsmouth Block Mill', in ''Industrial Archaeology Review'' VI, 1982, 28-44
* Cooper, C. C. 'The Portsmouth System of Manufacture', ''Technology and Culture'', 25, 1984, 182-225
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850'', Aldershot, 1989
* Coad, Jonathan, ''The Portsmouth Block Mills : Bentham, Brunel and the start of the Royal Navy's Industrial Revolution'', 2005,ISBN 1-873592-87-6
* Wilkin, Susan, ''The application of emerging new technologies by Portsmouth Dockyard, 1790-1815'', The Open University PhD Thesis, 1999. (Copies available from the British Thesis service of the British Library)
* Cantrell, J. and Cookson, G. eds. ''Henry Maudslay and the Pioneers of the Machine Age'', Stroud, 2002

[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Hampshire]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2008-06-25T22:04:14Z

Pyrotec: /* Cause */ corrected text - citation does not support the full scope of the claims stated in this article

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military [[accident]] which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[27th November]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot.

Between 3,450 and 3,930 [[ton]]s (3,500 and 4,000 [[tonne]]s) of [[ordnance]] exploded — mostly comprising [[high explosive]] (HE)-filled [[bomb]]s, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] [[rounds]] of [[rifle]] [[ammunition]]. The resulting [[crater]] was 120 [[metre]]s (400 [[foot (unit of length|ft]]) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 [[mile]]s) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 [[cubic metre]]s of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete [[farm]]. [[Flooding]] caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''[[After The Battle]]'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. [[ISSN|ISSN 0306-154X]].</ref>

== Largest non-nuclear explosion on UK soil ==

The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.

Extracts from the Ministry of Home Security report File RE. 5/5i region IX. contained the following facts;

Two huge explosions were witnessed at RAF No21 M.U. Bomb storage dump on 27th November 1944 at 11.15 hours.
Eye witnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a [[mushroom cloud]] ascending several thousand feet, and saw a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the [[Commanding Officer]] of M.U.21 ([[Group Captain]] Storer) an open dump of [[incendiary bomb]]s caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties.
Property was damaged within a radius of 3/4 miles of the crater.

Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for 1,420 yards. Upper Castle Hayes farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Fordes [[Lime]] and [[Gypsum]] works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the destruction of reservoir dam and release of water into the works. Hanbury Fields farm, Hare Holes farm and also Croft farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was some 900 by 700 feet in length and 380 feet deep covering 12 [[acre]]s. Approximately one third of the RAF dump exploded, an area of 65000sq. yds but barriers of rock pillars between no 3 and 4 sections held and prevented the other munition storage areas from exploding in a chain reaction. Damage from earth shock extended as far as [[Burton-upon-Trent]]. Also 200 [[cattle]] were killed by the explosion, many having been blown to pieces. A number of live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.

Official casualties listed were as follows;
90 persons killed missing or injured.
26 killed or missing at the RAF dump, 5 of whom were gassed, also 10 severely injured.
42 killed or missing at Messrs Fordes works and surrounding countryside, also 12 injured.

No21 MU was the location of a number of paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by one of the most important UK 20th century artists, David Bomberg. He was briefly employed as a [[war artist]] by the War Ministry in 1943, and this is fully documented by Richard Cork in his biography of Bomberg.

Burton on Trent library has a complete documented file on the explosion.

Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> After [[France]] pulled out of [[NATO]] the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/> There is still a considerable amount of unexploded munitions deeply buried beneath the crater site - it was decided that it would be uneconomical to attempt its removal.

== Casualties ==

[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion. The official report file no RE5/5 region IX listed the following casualties:

* 26 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there and 10 severely injured.
* 42 people from a nearby [[plaster]] mill, Messrs Forde and sons.
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.
{{clear}}

== Cause ==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. There had been staff shortages, a management position had remained empty for a year and 194 unexperienced Italian [[POW]]s had been drafted in to help in the mines. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause of the explosion was probably caused by a site worker removing a [[detonator]] from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/98/a6370698.shtml An eye witness] testified a worker had used brass chisels in defiance of the regulations.
{{clear}}

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]
*[[RAF munitions storage during WWII]]

==References==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

==Further reading==
* "Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. [[ISSN|ISSN 0951-9726]].
* McCamley, N.J. (1998). ''Secret Underground Cities''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-585-3.
* McCamley, N.J. (2004). ''Disasters Underground''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-022-4.
* Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauld, RAF explosion}}

[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:1944 in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force during World War II]]

{{coor title d|52.847117|N|1.730608|W}}

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2008-06-25T21:54:53Z

Pyrotec: removed POV

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military [[accident]] which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[27th November]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot.

Between 3,450 and 3,930 [[ton]]s (3,500 and 4,000 [[tonne]]s) of [[ordnance]] exploded — mostly comprising [[high explosive]] (HE)-filled [[bomb]]s, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] [[rounds]] of [[rifle]] [[ammunition]]. The resulting [[crater]] was 120 [[metre]]s (400 [[foot (unit of length|ft]]) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 [[mile]]s) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 [[cubic metre]]s of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete [[farm]]. [[Flooding]] caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''[[After The Battle]]'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. [[ISSN|ISSN 0306-154X]].</ref>

== Largest non-nuclear explosion on UK soil ==

The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.

Extracts from the Ministry of Home Security report File RE. 5/5i region IX. contained the following facts;

Two huge explosions were witnessed at RAF No21 M.U. Bomb storage dump on 27th November 1944 at 11.15 hours.
Eye witnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a [[mushroom cloud]] ascending several thousand feet, and saw a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the [[Commanding Officer]] of M.U.21 ([[Group Captain]] Storer) an open dump of [[incendiary bomb]]s caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties.
Property was damaged within a radius of 3/4 miles of the crater.

Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for 1,420 yards. Upper Castle Hayes farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Fordes [[Lime]] and [[Gypsum]] works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the destruction of reservoir dam and release of water into the works. Hanbury Fields farm, Hare Holes farm and also Croft farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was some 900 by 700 feet in length and 380 feet deep covering 12 [[acre]]s. Approximately one third of the RAF dump exploded, an area of 65000sq. yds but barriers of rock pillars between no 3 and 4 sections held and prevented the other munition storage areas from exploding in a chain reaction. Damage from earth shock extended as far as [[Burton-upon-Trent]]. Also 200 [[cattle]] were killed by the explosion, many having been blown to pieces. A number of live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.

Official casualties listed were as follows;
90 persons killed missing or injured.
26 killed or missing at the RAF dump, 5 of whom were gassed, also 10 severely injured.
42 killed or missing at Messrs Fordes works and surrounding countryside, also 12 injured.

No21 MU was the location of a number of paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by one of the most important UK 20th century artists, David Bomberg. He was briefly employed as a [[war artist]] by the War Ministry in 1943, and this is fully documented by Richard Cork in his biography of Bomberg.

Burton on Trent library has a complete documented file on the explosion.

Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> After [[France]] pulled out of [[NATO]] the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/> There is still a considerable amount of unexploded munitions deeply buried beneath the crater site - it was decided that it would be uneconomical to attempt its removal.

== Casualties ==

[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion. The official report file no RE5/5 region IX listed the following casualties:

* 26 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there and 10 severely injured.
* 42 people from a nearby [[plaster]] mill, Messrs Forde and sons.
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.
{{clear}}

== Cause ==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. There had been staff shortages, a management position had remained empty for a year and 194 unexperienced Italian [[POW]]s had been drafted in to help in the mines.

But in [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause of the explosion was probably caused by a site worker removing a [[detonator]] from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/98/a6370698.shtml An eye witness]testified that workers, who often worked under pressure to complete bomb-repair work, used brass chisels in defiance of regulations.
{{clear}}

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]
*[[RAF munitions storage during WWII]]

==References==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

==Further reading==
* "Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. [[ISSN|ISSN 0951-9726]].
* McCamley, N.J. (1998). ''Secret Underground Cities''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-585-3.
* McCamley, N.J. (2004). ''Disasters Underground''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-022-4.
* Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauld, RAF explosion}}

[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:1944 in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force during World War II]]

{{coor title d|52.847117|N|1.730608|W}}

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2008-02-06T18:05:19Z

Pyrotec: Undid revision 189473106 by 213.162.108.168 (talk)

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[27th November]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot.

Between 3,450 and 3,930 [[ton]]s (3,500 and 4,000 [[tonne]]s) of ordnance exploded—mostly comprising high [[explosive]] (HE)-filled [[bomb]]s, but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 [[metre]]s (400 [[foot (unit of length|ft]]) deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 [[mile]]s) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 cubic metres of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings including a complete farm. Flooding caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''[[After The Battle]]'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. [[ISSN|ISSN 0306-154X]].</ref>

The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.

Extracts from the Ministry of home security report File RE. 5/5i region IX. contained the following facts;

Two huge explosions were witnessed at RAF No21 M.U. Bomb storage dump on 27th November 1944 at 11.15 hours.
Eye witnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a mushroom cloud ascending several thousand feet, and saw a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the commanding officer of M.U.21 (Group Captain Storer) an open dump of incendiary bombs caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties.
Property was damaged within a radius of 3/4 miles of the crater.

Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for 1420 yards.
Upper Castle Hayes farm completely disappeared and Mssrs. Peter Fordes Lime and Gypsum works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the destruction of reservoir dam and release of water into the works. Hanbury Fields farm, Hare Holes farm and also Croft farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village.
The crater was some 900 by 700 feet in length and 380 feet deep covering 12 acres. Approximately one third of the RAF dump exploded, an area of 65000sq. yds but barriers of rock pillars between no 3 and 4 sections held and prevented the other munition storage areas from exploding in a chain reaction. Damage from earth shock extended as far as Burton-upon Trent. 200 cattle were killed by the explosion, many having been blown to pieces. A number of live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.

Official casualties listed were as follows;
90 persons killed missing or injured.
26 killed or missing at the RAF dump, 5 of whom were gassed, also 10 severely injured.
42 killed or missing at Messrs Fordes works and surrounding countryside, also 12 injured.

No21 MU was the location of a number of paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by one of the most important UK 20th century artists, David Bomberg. He was briefly employed as a war artist by the war ministry in 1943, and this is fully documented by Richard Cork in his biography of Bomberg.
Burton on Trent library has a complete documented file on the explosion.

Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> After [[France]] pulled out of [[NATO]] the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/> There is still a considerable amount of unexploded munitions deeply buried beneath the crater site - it was decided that it would be uneconomical to attempt its removal.

== Casualties ==

[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion. The official report file no RE5/5 region IX listed the following casualties:

* 26 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there and 10 severely injured.
* 42 people from a nearby [[plaster]] mill, Messrs Forde and sons.
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.
{{clear}}

== Cause ==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause was probably a worker at the site who was working on removing the [[detonator]] from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. This was reported by an eye witness who testified that workers were working under pressure and often used a brass chisel as a short cut in defiance of regulations.
{{clear}}

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]
*[[RAF munitions storage during WWII]]

==References==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

==Further reading==
* "Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. [[ISSN|ISSN 0951-9726]].
* McCamley, N.J. (1998). ''Secret Underground Cities''. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-585-3.
* McCamley, N.J. (2004). ''Disasters Underground''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-022-4.
* Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauld, RAF explosion}}

[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:1944 in England]]
[[Category:Explosions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Air Force during World War II]]

{{coor title d|52.847117|N|1.730608|W}}

Benutzer:Universal-Interessierter/RNLB Mona (ON 775)

2008-01-09T21:52:05Z

Pyrotec: clean up

The '''Mona''' was a lifeboat based at [[Broughty Ferry]] in [[Scotland]], that capsized during a rescue attempt, with the loss of the lives of the crew. The Mona was built in 1935, and, in its time, saved 118 lives.

== The loss of the Mona ==
At 0313 hours on [[8 December]] [[1959]], the Mona, captained by Alexander Gall, was launched to assist the [[North Carr Lightship]] which was reported adrift in [[St Andrews Bay]]. Weather conditions were exceptionally severe with a strong south-easterly gale and the Broughty Ferry Lifeboat was the only boat in the area able to launch. The Mona was seen clearing the Tay and heading south into St Andrews Bay. Her last radio message was timed at 4.48am, and after a helicopter search she was found capsized on [[Buddon Sands]]. Her crew of eight were all drowned. The North Carr reef is off the coast of [[Fife]] and the [[Lightship]] was later replaced by a beacon and is now berthed at [[Dundee]] harbour.

The Mona disaster was the subject of an official investigation, in which the boat was described as having been 100% seaworthy at the time of the accident.

According to a letter to the [[Evening Telegraph (Dundee)|Dundee ''Evening Telegraph'']], in January 2006, "Among some seamen, it was believed the vessel was tainted with evil, and they resolved to exorcise the boat in a '[[viking]] ritual'". The Mona was taken to [[Port Seton]] on the [[river Forth]] in the dead of night, stripped of anything of value, chained to the sea wall, and burnt. The burning was done with the knowledge and permission of [[Lord Saltoun]], the chairman of the [[Scottish Lifeboat Council]]. Questions were raised in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] about the destruction of a lifeboat built with public subscription.

It is thought the Mona’s fate was partly responsible for a considerable dip in public contributions and legacies for the lifeboats over the next few years.

The incident was immortalised in song by [[Peggy Seeger]]

== Names of crewmen ==
*Ronald Grant
*George Smith
*Alexander Gall
*John Grieve
*George Watson
*James Ferrier
*John J Grieve
*David Anderson

Their names are commemorated on a plaque on the side of the present day boat house.

There is also a song called "The Lifeboat Mona" commemorating it's great achievements and the hardships the crew endured while saving the other ship when they sadly drowned.

== References ==
{{Sectionstub}}

[[Category:History of Dundee]]
[[Category:1959 in Scotland]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2007-12-09T21:13:34Z

Pyrotec: /* External links */ removed Good intent link - its spam to promote books

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2007-08-14T20:27:40Z

Pyrotec: added two refs & dabbed links

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2007-07-22T09:39:22Z

Pyrotec: approx 3,500 tons of HE-filled bombs exploded

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2007-03-04T21:08:58Z

Pyrotec: dabbed units & references

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2007-01-27T18:08:14Z

Pyrotec: /* External links */ last edit showed satellite image of Gypsum works added image of blast crater

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[November 27]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot.

Between 3,100 and 3,600 metric tons (3,500 and 4,000 tons) of [[ordnance]] exploded – mostly comprising high [[explosive]]s but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 metres (400') deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]] (Latitude 52.847117N, Longitude 1.730608W). A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 cubic metres of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings. Flooding caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed</ref>

The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history.

Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> After [[France]] pulled out of [[NATO]] the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/>

== Casualties ==

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion:
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

* 23 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there.
* 41 people from a nearby [[plaster]] [[mill]].
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

== Cause ==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause was probably a worker at the site who was working on removing the [[detonator]] from a live bomb. There is a [[conspiracy theory]] that a German [[V2 rocket]] hit the site and caused the subsequent explosion - a fact which would have been very embarrassing in 1944 and might, therefore, have been suppressed. The site of the explosion would, however, have been well out of the range of the V2.

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]

==Notes==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

== References ==
*"Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. ISSN 0951-9726
*Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''After The Battle'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. ISSN 0306-154X.
*Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps, showing Gypsum works]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k
satellite Image at Google Maps, showing blast crater]
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:1944 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Explosions]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2007-01-27T17:45:31Z

Pyrotec: reinstated cat:

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[November 27]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot.

Between 3,100 and 3,600 metric tons (3,500 and 4,000 tons) of [[ordnance]] exploded – mostly comprising high [[explosive]]s but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 metres (400') deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]] (Latitude 52.847117N, Longitude 1.730608W). A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 cubic metres of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings. Flooding caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed</ref>

The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history.

Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> After [[France]] pulled out of [[NATO]] the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/>

== Casualties ==

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion:
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

* 23 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there.
* 41 people from a nearby [[plaster]] [[mill]].
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

== Cause ==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause was probably a worker at the site who was working on removing the [[detonator]] from a live bomb. There is a [[conspiracy theory]] that a German [[V2 rocket]] hit the site and caused the subsequent explosion - a fact which would have been very embarrassing in 1944 and might, therefore, have been suppressed. The site of the explosion would, however, have been well out of the range of the V2.

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]

==Notes==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

== References ==
*"Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. ISSN 0951-9726
*Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''After The Battle'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. ISSN 0306-154X.
*Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.852573,-1.733415&spn=0.009381,0.027122&t=k Satellite Image at Google Maps]

[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:1944 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Explosions]]

Bicton Woodland Railway

2006-12-22T13:43:20Z

Pyrotec: dadded links

{{Infobox rail
|railroad_name=Bicton Woodland Railway
|gauge={{1ft6in}}
|start_year=1963
|end_year=Present
|length=1359 yards
|hq_city=Budleigh Salterton
|locale=[[England]]
}}

The '''Bicton Woodland Railway''' is a [[narrow gauge]] railway running in gardens in the grounds of [[Bicton House]] at [[Budleigh Salterton]] in [[Devon]].

The line was built in 1962 as a tourist attraction for visitors to the house. Most of the rolling stock was acquired from the [[Royal Arsenal 18 inch Railway]], [[Woolwich]], with two locomotives, ''Woolwich'' and ''Carnegie'' coming from that source, as well as seven goods wagons which were reduced to their frames and converted to passenger carriages. It opened to passengers in 1963.

Additional carriages were acquired from the [[RAF Fauld Explosion|RAF Fauld]] railway and the internal railway of the [[London and North Western Railway|LNWR]] Wolverton works.

In 1998 the Bicton Gardens were put up for sale and the railway put into hiatus. The new owners announced in late 1999 that they would sell the line's existing stock and re-equipe with steam outline diesel locomotives supplied by [[Alan Keef]]. The line's three locomotives were purchased by the [[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills]] museum at [[Waltham Abbey]].

== Locomotives ==

{|class="wikitable"
!Number
!Name
!Builder
!Type
!Date
!Works number
!Notes
|-
|1
|''Woolwich''
|[[Avonside Engine Company]]
|0-4-0T
|1916
|1748
|ex-[[Royal Arsenal 18 inch Railway]]. Now at the [[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills]]
|-
|2
|''Bicton''
|[[Ruston and Hornsby]]
|4wDM
|1942
|213839
|Built for the War Department storage depot at Lion Brickworks, [[Scalford]]
|-
|3
|''Carnegie''
|[[Hunslet Engine Company|Hunslet]]
|0-4-4-0DM
|1954
|4524
|ex-[[Royal Arsenal 18 inch Railway]]. Now at the [[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills]]
|}

== References ==

* {{cite book| author=Thomas, Cliff|title=The Narrow Gauge in Britain & Ireland| publisher=Atlantic Publishers| year=2002|id=ISBN 1902827058}}

==See also==

* [[British narrow gauge railways]]

[[Category:Minimum gauge railways]]

{{UK-rail-stub}}

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2006-11-16T20:33:58Z

Pyrotec: dabbe links, changed dates for end of storage & added footnotes.

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[November 27]] [[1944]] at the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage depot.

Between 3,100 and 3,600 metric tons (3,500 and 4,000 tons) of [[ordnance]] exploded – mostly comprising high [[explosive]]s but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 metres (400') deep and 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]] (Latitude 52.847N, Longitude 1.731W). A nearby [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] containing 450,000 cubic metres of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings. Flooding caused by destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.<ref name = reed>Reed</ref>

The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history.

Whilst much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munition storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) was disbanded.<ref name = reed/> After [[France]] pulled out of [[NATO]] the site was used by the [[US Army]], between 1967 to 1973, to store US ammunition previously stored in France.<ref name = reed/>

== Casualties ==

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion:
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

* 23 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there.
* 41 people from a nearby [[plaster]] [[mill]].
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

== Cause ==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause was probably a worker at the site who was working on removing the [[detonator]] from a live bomb. There is a [[conspiracy theory]] that a German [[V2 rocket]] hit the site and caused the subsequent explosion - a fact which would have been very embarrassing in 1944 and might, therefore, have been suppressed. The site of the explosion would, however, have been well out of the range of the V2.

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]

==Notes==
<div class="references-small">

<references/>
</div>

== References ==
*"Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. ISSN 0951-9726
*Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''After The Battle'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. ISSN 0306-154X.
*Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
[[Category:Explosions]]
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:1944 in the United Kingdom]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2006-10-27T16:43:31Z

Pyrotec: /* References */ dabbed ref

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[November 27]] [[1944]] at the RAF Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage site.

Between 3,100 and 3,600 metric tons (3,500 and 4,000 tons) of [[ordnance]] exploded – mostly comprising high [[explosive]]s but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 meters (400') deep and 1,200 meters (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]] (Latitude 52.847N, Longitude 1.731W). A nearby reservoir containing 450,000 cubic meters of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings.

The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history.

Whilst most of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used for munition storage into the late 1950s.

== Casualties ==

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion:
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

* 23 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some Italian [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there.
* 41 people from a nearby [[plaster]] [[mill]].
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

== Cause ==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause was probably a worker at the site who was working on removing the [[detonator]] from a live bomb. There is a [[conspiracy theory]] that a German [[V2 rocket]] hit the site and caused the subsequent explosion - a fact which would have been very embarrassing in 1944 and might, therefore, have been suppressed. The site of the explosion would, however, have been well out of the range of the V2.

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]

== References ==
*"Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. ISSN 0951-9726
*Reed, John, (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944", ''After The Battle'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. ISSN 0306-154X.
*Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
[[Category:Explosions]]
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:1944 in the United Kingdom]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2006-10-27T16:30:46Z

Pyrotec: /* References */ added ISSN

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[November 27]] [[1944]] at the RAF Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage site.

Between 3,100 and 3,600 metric tons (3,500 and 4,000 tons) of [[ordnance]] exploded – mostly comprising high [[explosive]]s but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 meters (400') deep and 1,200 meters (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]] (Latitude 52.847N, Longitude 1.731W). A nearby reservoir containing 450,000 cubic meters of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings.

The RAF Fauld explosion was one of the [[List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history.

Whilst most of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used for munition storage into the late 1950s.

== Casualties ==

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion:
[[Image:raffauld.JPG|thumb|right|RAF Fauld sign.]]

* 23 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some Italian [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there.
* 41 people from a nearby [[plaster]] [[mill]].
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

== Cause ==
[[Image:raffauld01.JPG|thumb|right|Warning Sign.]]
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause was probably a worker at the site who was working on removing the [[detonator]] from a live bomb. There is a [[conspiracy theory]] that a German [[V2 rocket]] hit the site and caused the subsequent explosion - a fact which would have been very embarrassing in 1944 and might, therefore, have been suppressed. The site of the explosion would, however, have been well out of the range of the V2.

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll]]

== References ==
*"Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. ISSN 0951-9726
*Reed, John, (1977). 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944, ''After The Battle'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40. ISSN 0306-154X.
*Grid Reference: SK182277

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion (Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
[[Category:Explosions]]
[[Category:1944 disasters]]
[[Category:Disasters in England]]
[[Category:1944 in the United Kingdom]]

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2006-05-09T12:57:54Z

Pyrotec: /* External links */ Added ref

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[November 27]] [[1944]] at the RAF Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage site.

Between 3,100 and 3,600 metric tons (3,500 and 4,000 tons) of [[ordnance]] exploded – mostly comprising high [[explosive]]s but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 meters (400') deep and 1,200 meters (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby reservoir containing 450,000 cubic meters of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings.

Whilst most of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used for munition storage into the late 1950s.

Together with the attempt to blow up [[Heligoland]], this ranks amongst the largest non-nuclear explosions.

== Casualties ==

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion:

* 23 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some Italian [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there.
* 41 people from a nearby [[plaster]] [[mill]].
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

== Cause ==

The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause was probably a worker at the site who was working on removing the [[detonator]] from a live bomb. There is a [[conspiracy theory]] that a German [[V2 rocket]] hit the site and caused the subsequent explosion - a fact which would have been very embarrassing in 1944 and might, therefore, have been suppressed. The site of the explosion would, however, have been well out of the range of the V2.

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion(Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*Reed, John, (1977). 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944, ''After The Battle'', '''18''', Pp 35 - 40.
[[Category:Explosions]]
[[Category:1944]]

== References ==
*"Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. ISSN 0951-9726

Explosion im RAF-Munitionslager Fauld

2006-05-09T12:55:29Z

Pyrotec: /* External links */

The '''RAF Fauld explosion''' was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am on Monday, [[November 27]] [[1944]] at the RAF Fauld underground [[munitions]] storage site.

Between 3,100 and 3,600 metric tons (3,500 and 4,000 tons) of [[ordnance]] exploded – mostly comprising high [[explosive]]s but including a variety of other types of weapons and including 500 million rounds of rifle ammunition. The resulting crater was 120 meters (400') deep and 1,200 meters (0.75 miles) across and is still clearly visible just south of the village of Fauld, to the west of [[Hanbury Hill]] in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. A nearby reservoir containing 450,000 cubic meters of water was obliterated in the incident, along with a number of buildings.

Whilst most of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, the site itself continued to be used for munition storage into the late 1950s.

Together with the attempt to blow up [[Heligoland]], this ranks amongst the largest non-nuclear explosions.

== Casualties ==

At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So whilst the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 75 people died in the explosion:

* 23 workers at the site - divided between RAF personnel and some Italian [[POW|prisoners of war]] who were working there.
* 41 people from a nearby [[plaster]] [[mill]].
* perhaps a dozen farm workers who had been working nearby.

== Cause ==

The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. In [[1974]], it was officially announced that the cause was probably a worker at the site who was working on removing the [[detonator]] from a live bomb. There is a [[conspiracy theory]] that a German [[V2 rocket]] hit the site and caused the subsequent explosion - a fact which would have been very embarrassing in 1944 and might, therefore, have been suppressed. The site of the explosion would, however, have been well out of the range of the V2.

== External links ==
*[http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm The Fauld Explosion]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/fauld.shtml The World's Largest Ever Explosion(Almost)]
*[http://fauldraf-hanburydump.com/ RAF FAULD 4 Kilotonne EXPLOSION. November 27 1944]
*Reed, John, (1977). 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staff. November 27, 1944, ''After The Battle'', '''18''', Pp35 - 40.
[[Category:Explosions]]
[[Category:1944]]

== References ==
*"Britain's big bang" by Peter Grego, ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. ISSN 0951-9726

Carrickmines Castle

2006-05-01T20:36:58Z

Pyrotec: Dabbed M50 motorway away from disamb page

'''Carrickmines Castle''' is a controversial archeological site in [[County Dublin]], in eastern [[Ireland]]. The castle was built in the medieval period to protect the [[England|English]]-ruled [[Pale]] around [[Dublin]]. The ruins of the castle have been the subject of a long running dispute since the [[M50 motorway (Ireland)|M50 motorway]] was designed to run through the site of the castle. Preservationists, including historians and archeologists, have argued that the site's potential for historical study has not been fully realised. In 2002-2003, young activists who called themselves the "Carrickminders" camped out on the castle's ruins to prevent it being demolished to make way for the motorway.

==History==
Carrickmines Castle was the site of an [[Hiberno-Norse]] settlement that subsequently became a fortified [[Norman Ireland|Norman]] castle and village.
In the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641]], the castle was taken by Irish rebel forces. English troops re-took it in 1642 during the [[Irish Confederate Wars]], badly damaging the castle and massacring its garrison.
One third of the site was recently destroyed during the completion of [[M50 motorway (Ireland)|M50 motorway]] extension; however the junction remains incomplete, and a substantial part of the site still remains intact while this is the case.
The future of the site is currently awaiting a judgement from the [[Supreme Court of Ireland|Supreme Court]].

==External links==

*
[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carrickmines/ Carrickmines Castle Homepage]

[http://www.geocities.com/carrickmines_castle/Carrickmines_Castle.html Alternative Carrickmines Castle Homepage]

[[Category:Castles in Ireland]] [[Dublin]]

{{Historic Irish houses}}