Summary
British Oxygen Air Separation Plant, 1957-9.
Reasons for Designation
The 1957-9 British Oxygen Air Separation Plant is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: a rare industrial plant type and an essential and integral component of a unique British Cold War rocket establishment believed to be the sole survivor of its type in the western world;
* Survival: significant earthwork, buried and standing remains survive at this site, which illustrate one component of a rocket test facility;
* Potential: the earthwork, buried features and standing remains will enhance our detailed understanding of both the operation and function of this plant to produce hazardous products, and its essential contribution to the successful functioning of the remote rocket establishment;
* Historic interest: reflecting UK/US cooperation, the site illustrates the development and operation of Britain’s Cold War independent nuclear deterrent; subsequently the technology developed here contributed to the development of international space exploration and to the design of the United States’ Titan II missile silos;
* Group value: as part of a single phase, grand scheme site conceived for a single rocket programme, the relationship of each site to the others and the wider landscape adds group value and enhances the national importance of the whole;
* Period: the peril from the threat of mutually assured nuclear destruction, which characterised the Cold War period is inherent in the remains at Spadeadam in the most tangible and evocative fashion.
History
In 1955, the open and largely uninhabited moorland to the north of Gilsland, Cumbria, was selected as the site for the Spadeadam Rocket Establishment. Its role was to support the development of the intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) Blue Streak; this was based on the American Atlas missile, but wholly British built. It was to be a liquid fuelled missile tipped with a nuclear warhead with a range of around 1,500 nautical miles (2,413km), sufficient to reach Moscow from the United Kingdom. It was envisaged that from the mid-1960s it would replace manned aircraft as the United Kingdom’s main nuclear deterrent. However, the missile project was cancelled in April 1960 and after a period of uncertainty by the mid-1960s Blue Streak was adopted as the first stage of the Europa 1 rocket being developed by the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO). In December 1971, Britain withdrew from ELDO and the project was finally cancelled in April 1972. The rocket test facilities were closed and the site was dismantled.
The establishment was designed and managed for the Ministry of Aviation by the project’s principal contractors, de Havilland, who were responsible for the missile’s airframe, and Rolls-Royce, who designed the engines. The British Oxygen Corporation also operated a plant on the site to produce liquid oxygen, and liquid and gaseous nitrogen. The test facilities were initially designed to assist in the development of the missile, they would then act as a proof facility, testing each of the 60 missiles it was planned to place in silos in eastern England. In its heyday the Rocket Establishment represented a world class rocket test facility and the most advanced in Europe. It was also the model for similar facilities at Woomera, South Australia, from where a number of successful launches of the Europa I rocket were undertaken.
The establishment occupied about 3240 hectares; most of this remained open providing the necessary safety distances between facilities. Construction work began in 1957 and represented a major civil engineering undertaking. A new road was constructed to the north of Gilsland and a large temporary navvy camp, of which few traces survive, was built to the south of the main entrance. An extensive road network supported across the boggy ground on brushwood fascines and embankments connects the various test areas. The split in responsibilities between the various contractors and their different roles in the project is reflected in the layout of the facilities at Spadeadam. They may be broken down into five self-contained areas; administration and missile assembly, British Oxygen Corporation plant, component test area, Priorlancy Rigg engine test area, and the Greymare Hill missile test area. An innovative underground launcher facility was also begun, but cancelled.
One of the fundamental requirements of the missile testing programme was an assured supply of liquid oxygen (lox), and liquid and gaseous nitrogen. It was estimated that if the full programme had gone ahead the establishment would have required 250 tons of these substances per day. Blue Streak was fuelled with a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene, and nitrogen was used to pressurise many of its subsystems. In the late 1950s there were relatively few factories that manufactured these industrial gases and this, coupled with the remoteness of Spadeadam, were factors that might lead to supply problems. Liquid oxygen is also extremely hazardous to transport and due to its very low boiling point -183°C there can be significant loses due to evaporation. For these reasons it was decided to build a dedicated air separation plant at Spadeadam. Work on the plant was started in 1957 and it was probably operational by 1959.
Details
The rectangular compound lies about 120m to the north of the administrative and missile assembly area and is entered through an original entrance with concrete gateposts; the southern half of the original double leaf gate remains in situ, and to either side there is a section of the contemporary tubular steel perimeter fence, each retaining original 0.5m square metal plates with BOC logos attached.
The air separation plant main building is visible as a series of substantial concrete bases forming the ground-level sub floor area. Hollow machine footings at either end with pentagonal cross sections, stand to a height of about 3m, and in the centre there are six opposed bases standing about 3.5m high. These bases supported the former first floor working area and plant units, and on their inner sides concrete corbels are interpreted as indicating the former presence of a travelling crane or supports for the superstructure. The former positions of plant and an electrical switch room at the eastern end are discernable in the remaining fabric; other functional areas are marked by variations in flooring finishes. All of the concrete work is finished to a high standard with smooth surfaces and chamfered corners. Immediately to the south of the machine footings is a long corridor with a row of concrete footings standing about 0.1m high. In its south west corner is a rectangular compartment with a tiled floor thought to be the main caustic area. Immediately to the north of the main building, the position of two small annexes containing air separation units are marked by partly exposed sections of concrete flooring. Brick footings to the south of the main building are thought to represent the remains of an annexe with a boiler house in its south east corner and an external bunded fuel store. Heated water from two compressors housed in the main building was cooled in two cooling towers whose rectangular concrete foundations lie immediately south of the main building.
The bases of tanks situated immediately to the north of the main building stored the finished products; the most distinctive is the circular platform 11m in diameter set upon an octagonal concrete base supported by 21 concrete columns that housed the liquid oxygen tank. Adjacent to this are the brick and concrete foundations of the lox pump house, obscured by tipping, and to its north the tanker filling bay is indicated by the presence of a concrete slab. To the east of the main liquid oxygen tank is the octagonal base of a nitrogen tank, and to its east are two circular concrete bases, about 9m in diameter, of former nitrogen tanks.
Extent of scheduling
For pragmatic reasons of identification, the scheduling is defined on the north, west, south and east side by the outer edge of the tarmac access road that rings the site; at the south end it extends beyond the road edge to include the pair of cooling tower bases, and at the north-east corner there is a short extension eastwards to include the original gates and surviving section of original perimeter fence.
Exclusions
Any surviving original concrete road surfaces associated with the Spadeadam Cold War rocket establishment are included in the scheduling, however, the upper, later layer of road asphalt, all modern lamp posts, fences and signage are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath all of these features is included.
