Somerdale Factory
| Fry's Somerdale Factory | |
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| General information | |
| Coordinates | 51°25′23″N 2°29′41″W / 51.4231°N 2.4946°W |
| Construction started | 1924 |
| Completed | 1935 |
| Client | J. S. Fry & Sons |
| Owner | Cadbury |
Somerdale was a chocolate factory located in Keynsham near Bristol in south west England, closed by Kraft foods in 2011. It was the home of a Cadbury plc's production facility, and was originally built by the Fry family when they expanded through consolidation of a number of existing facilities located in the centre of Bristol.
After the First World War, Cadbury Brothers undertook a financial merger with J. S. Fry & Sons, which completed in 1919. As a result of the merger, Egbert Cadbury joined the Fry side of the business. Along with Cecil Roderick Fry he was instrumental in the relocation and of the Bristol operations of Fry from Union Street to a 228-acre (0.92 km2) greenfield site called Somerdale Garden City, after a national competition in 1923.
As Quakers, the factory was built with social facilities, including playing fields and a large recreational sports grounds, which still today serves the town of Keynsham. This transfer took 11 years as production was gradually transferred as the modern blocks erected. Finally completed in 1935, at its height the Somerdale workforce was in excess of 5,000. It had its own power station and railway, with connection to the Great Western Railway via sidings at Keynsham railway station. During World War II, with chocolate production reduced due to war time rationing, spare floor capacity was taken over by Rolls Royce to produce Merlin engines.
Previously, Keynsham Cadbury was the home of Fry's Chocolate Cream, the Double Decker, Dairy Milk, Chocolate Buttons, Cream Eggs and Mini Eggs, Cadbury's Fudge, Chomp and Crunchie. According to Cadbury Employees (or 'Chocolate Welders' as they are locally known), the Crunchie Machine made over 1 million bars a day.
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