Hidden in underground Wiltshire lies the remains of the largest underground ammo storage facility in Britain.
Before the start of World War II the armed forces needed a large facility to safely stores arms and ammo.
The decision was made to utilise old mines in Wiltshire. Tunnel Quarry, Ridge Quarry, Eastleighs Quarry and Monkton Farleigh Quarry was converted in 1937 by the royal Engineers to give over 200 acres of space capable of holding 350,000 tons of ammo.
The depot was decommisioned in 1965 and eventually sold 1976 to various business's for secure storage. Although the depot has been slowly stripped of anything on any value by scrap merchents, you can still appreciate the work that went on with what little evidence remains.
Long conveyour systems stretch right across the depot which would have carried all types of bombs and ammo 24 hours a day and would have been stacked from floor to ceiling, imprints from the weight of the ammo can still be seen in the floor in some places. The ammo would have entered the mines via long sloping shafts from the surface where lorries or trains would deliver new supplies.
All around the depot the air conditioning system can be seen as huge metal flumes hang from the ceiling that would have delivered fresh air all around the site that was powered by huge fans in each district.
The walls in Monkton Farleigh were corseted and re-enforced with concrete, the floor was flattened and covered in Colas, a spark-proof asphalt which contained coal dust. In some places there was such a rush to get the ammo in to the depot that when the stocks were piled in the floor was still wet resulting in the imprints of ammo cases in the floor which are still visible today.
Visited with Urbanity and his mates , Datsun and Rustproofhawk(28dl)
First off District 20
You can see here the original pick marks on the left on contrast to the MOD reinforced walls on the right
Slopeshaft 20
Old Signage
Some of the last remaining conveyor
Connecting Tunnel
Ventilate Me......d19/20 are bloody dusty
Into 19 we Venture
Pirate
Before the start of World War II the armed forces needed a large facility to safely stores arms and ammo.
The decision was made to utilise old mines in Wiltshire. Tunnel Quarry, Ridge Quarry, Eastleighs Quarry and Monkton Farleigh Quarry was converted in 1937 by the royal Engineers to give over 200 acres of space capable of holding 350,000 tons of ammo.
The depot was decommisioned in 1965 and eventually sold 1976 to various business's for secure storage. Although the depot has been slowly stripped of anything on any value by scrap merchents, you can still appreciate the work that went on with what little evidence remains.
Long conveyour systems stretch right across the depot which would have carried all types of bombs and ammo 24 hours a day and would have been stacked from floor to ceiling, imprints from the weight of the ammo can still be seen in the floor in some places. The ammo would have entered the mines via long sloping shafts from the surface where lorries or trains would deliver new supplies.
All around the depot the air conditioning system can be seen as huge metal flumes hang from the ceiling that would have delivered fresh air all around the site that was powered by huge fans in each district.
The walls in Monkton Farleigh were corseted and re-enforced with concrete, the floor was flattened and covered in Colas, a spark-proof asphalt which contained coal dust. In some places there was such a rush to get the ammo in to the depot that when the stocks were piled in the floor was still wet resulting in the imprints of ammo cases in the floor which are still visible today.
Visited with Urbanity and his mates , Datsun and Rustproofhawk(28dl)
First off District 20
You can see here the original pick marks on the left on contrast to the MOD reinforced walls on the right
Slopeshaft 20
Old Signage
Some of the last remaining conveyor
Connecting Tunnel
Ventilate Me......d19/20 are bloody dusty
Into 19 we Venture
Pirate
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