Ruddington Depot
| Ruddington Depot | |
|---|---|
| near Ruddington | |
 Ruddington Depot
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| Coordinates | 52°53′N 1°08′W / 52.89°N 1.14°W |
| Type | Storage and Distribution Centre |
| Site information | |
| Open to the public |
No |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942–1983 |
Ruddington Ordnance & Supply Depot was a Royal Ordnance Factory filling and storage facility, commissioned in 1940 and built during World War II by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD). It was located to the south of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, and took 18 months to build. In operation it consisted of over 200 buildings employing 4,000 workers at peak. It was decommissioned in 1945, became a storage area for ex-military vehicles which were then auctioned-off onsite, and was closed in 1985. Today the site is located in the Rushcliffe Country Park.
As World War II erupted, the MoD surveyed and purchased land for the construction of a national Royal Ordnance Factory, capable of the supplying the armed forces with sufficient armaments to win the war. Sites were chosen that were (for safety reasons) remote from dense populations, but easily accessible via mainline railways from a number of towns and cities to allow the large number of workers access. This latter provision also sought a location close to key railway junctions, allowing easy access inwards for raw materials as well as quick distribution of the final product to the key seaports.
Prior to 1940 the site was used as agricultural land, located on the Great Central Railway between the major East Midlands cities of Nottingham and Leicester. The proposed ROF at Ruddington was to be used as a filling factory for ammunition, employing up to 6,000 people. After purchase of the land in summer 1940, in December 1940 ground works contractors levelled off the land. At peak, the site employed 100,000 labourers during the construction phase. As well as over 200 buildings, for railway goods traffic access a branch line was built to Ruddington railway station.
The site was built to produce twice as much ammunition as it eventually produced, with the initial site laid out to allow it to do so. However, eventually the unused second part of the site was developed as an armaments storage facility.
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