Kinnerley Ammunition Depots

[P Bellamy]

Does anyone have any information on what sort of ordnance was stored at Kinnerley to the west of Shrewsbury?

Here's a quick GE trace showing the 80+ miles of railtrack laid and operated by the Royal Engineers to serve the multiple storage areas:



Some gen on the rolling stock and history HERE.

All the best,
PB

[Carnaby]

I suspect it was all part of CAD Nesscliff

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Ab...ainingArea.htm

Also post #5 in:

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/...ad.php?t=33114

Graham

[P Bellamy]

Thanks Graham,

I know I'd seen that map before but couldn't remember where.

All the best,
PB

[Dave Smith]

I sent a link to this thread to a friend who is a railway AND aviation enthusiast. He comments:

The railway in question is far more complicated than the question suggests.

It is the former Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway a flea bitten
joint if ever there was one. It started off as the ambitious The
Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway from about 1866, hence its
nickname, The Potts. It became a "light" railway in 1911 to allow it to
operate under the less onerous provisions of the Light Railway Act. It
only ran as a route between Shrewsbury (The Abbey station) and Llanymynech
with a branch to Criggion.

It was on its last legs before the start of WWII but was taken over by the
War Office in 1941 to serve dispersed ammo dumps and given a general
uplift to allow it to continue to operate.

there is a new book on the subject - An Illustrated History of the
Shropshire and Montgomery Light Railway by Peter Johnson published by OPC,
an imprint of Ian Allan. Under its proper title there will be one or more
websites on the subject.

A quick glance through the WWII years does not answer the question as to
type of ammo stored but refers to 50,000 tons of explosives in storage.
It became known as a Central Armaments Depot at Nesscliffe at some stage.
The War Dept locos were operated by the Royal Engineers and one or more
still exist as preserved items.

The network closed in 1960 although the terminus in Shrewsbury by the
Abbey was worked by British Rail into the 1980s before being redeveloped.

Part of the site is now revived as a museum to an unusual line beloved of
rail enthusiasts.

The area around Nesscliffe is still an active military area.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Although my primary interest is RAF munitions storage I gather info on Army and Navy sites as I come across them and Nescliff is one of them. Being Army (War Department) is would have stored all the expected ammunition especially artillery shell. The site was made up of four sub-sites Kinnerley, Pentre, Ford and Argoed.

There was also a sub-site at Loton Park used for the storage of CW shell in a mass of Romney huts:

http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepat...z=16&oz=7&gt=1

[P Bellamy]

Thanks Peter.

I was aware there was a CW store as part of the depot but didn't know where.
I've added it to the GE file:



Argoed Sub-Depot: yellow
Kinnerley Sub-Depot: red
Pentre Sub-Depot: blue
Ford Sub-Depot: green
Loton Park Sub-Depot: purple
S&MLR: white

All the best,
PB

[PETERTHEEATER]

All you have to do now is decide if it 'Nesscliff' or 'Nescliffe'. A 1946 introductory booklet issued to new staff by the CO uses the former spelling whereas latterday maps use Nescliife. For me it's NESCLIFF.

[Carnaby]

Yet another annoyance, like Churchstanton / Church Stanton, Spittlegate / Spitalgate.

It seems that most use Nesscliffe, whereas the Army / MoD dropped the 'e'. There are a few businesses in the area also with the shorter spelling.

Trying to get to the bottom this using an 'advanced' Google search failed. I suspect there are many instances of people inadvertently adding or dropping the 'e' when refering to the area or the establishment.

Very confusing

Graham

[ColinBa]

According to the US CWS Official History chemical sections were activated in general depots at Barry, Westbury, Histon and Hilsea. Chemical ammunition depots were set up at Shepton Mallet and Loton Deer Park in November 1943.

The largest SOS CWS ammunition storage facility, that at
Loton Deer Park, was designed primarily for incendiary storage, secondarily
for toxic storage, mostly of air force munitions

[PETERTHEEATER]

Thanks for that snippet Colin. It lends credence to my suspicion that the major Army munitions storage areas were used also for the storage of air dropped stores.