Summary

Former First World War National Filling Factory surviving as standing, buried and earthwork remains.

Source: Historic England

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: First World War munitions factory surviving as a series of building foundations, earthworks, and demolished and buried remains.

GENERAL LAYOUT: the original factory is focused on the shallow valley of the Cock Beck which was followed by a standard gauge railway which looped to the S. Spread across the western part of this area were the expense magazines. To the centre, just W of Barnbow Lane, were the North and South Stores which flanked the railway. To the N and S of these stores were the filling sheds, with further filling sheds on the E side of the lane, N of the beck. A set of boiler houses lay to the E with the Box Factory to the S and the Shell Store to the N (for receiving shell cases for filling). On the higher ground to the S, mainly on the W side of the Barnbow Lane, was the ‘safe’ area including the Shifting Rooms, Offices and Women’s Canteen, the Men’s Canteen being on the E side of the lane. Served by the southern side of the railway loop, between Lazencroft and the N-S Barnbow Lane, were 8 magazines for completed munitions awaiting shipping. The Amatol Plant lay to the E of Shippen House and was contained within a smaller railway loop extending E of the main railway loop.

DESCRIPTION: the most substantial set of in situ remains are the building platforms for the various buildings in the safe area centred around 175m NW of Shippen House. These are of brick, concrete and earthworks, standing up to 1m high. To the N, the footings and earthworks of the filling sheds also survive as upstanding features, but appear more disturbed by demolition. However smaller features, such as stanchions which supported the raised timber cleanways can also be identified. Other remains, such as those related to the horse-drawn tramway system, will survive as buried remains. The earthworks, concrete footings, and partial structural remains are generally well defined either as raised or sunken rectangular platforms, with a mixture of concrete floors and earth platforms hidden beneath accumulated plant material. The concrete floors of some of the structures have been broken up and left in situ, this particularly being the case with the North and South Stores. The site of Hut 42, the scene of the December 1916 accident is thought to lie approximately 50m NW of the bridge carrying Barnbow Lane across the Cock Beck. This bridge is an C18 arched masonry bridge that was modified and widened for the construction of the munitions factory.

The NE part of the complex, including the site of the Shell Store, one set of filling sheds (Block Y) and about seven other buildings, has been completely cleared and returned to agriculture and consequently is not included within the scheduling. To the S, included within the scheduling, the Cock Beck is culverted for about 40m with a surviving brick and concrete structure that originally supported boiler houses and two railway lines. Upstream to the W, there are two surviving concrete weirs which were designed to provide water for the factory’s fire brigade. On the rising land to the S, the footprint of the Box Factory survives as a clear earthwork depression, whilst to the SW, on the E side of Barnbow Lane, the Men’s Canteen and Block L (thought to be low risk filling sheds) survive as low upstanding platforms. Two further blocks (Block M and N) to the S of an E-W trackway no longer appear to survive and thus their area has not been included in the scheduling. The two standing buildings within the area of the scheduling, within the same field as the Box Factory, are both later: the crow-stepped gabled building to the SE is a former electrical substation built for the 1920s colliery; the flat roofed building to the NW is a guard house built for the 1940s food store.

The NW part of the monument includes the footings of 15 rectangular-plan expense magazines that are widely separated from each other and survive as very low earthworks and buried remains. More substantial are the eight magazines regularly spaced along the course of the S side of the railway loop, N of Manston Lane. These appear as raised rectangular earthwork platforms designed to allow direct loading onto standard gauge railway waggons. The scheduling also includes the course of the railway lines where the track beds can still be clearly traced as earthworks (either as embankments cuttings or traverses). This includes the embankments of the turning wye to the N of Lazencroft Cottage, and the loop around the Amatol plant to the E. Most of the buildings of the Amatol plant have been cleared leaving little trace, and their sites have thus not been included within the scheduling. However on the W side of the plant, N of Shippen Cottages, the substantial brick and concrete building platform for the Melting House does survive, reused as the floor of a modern agricultural building. This platform is included in the scheduling, although the modern agricultural buildings are excluded.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: includes all parts of the site that retain significant earthworks or upstanding features of the former First World War, National Filling Factory No. 1 Barnbow. The boundaries of the monument are mainly drawn to modern boundaries, these generally following those depicted on a map of the factory dated 1924. However the area has been reduced to remove the area to the NE that has been returned to arable agriculture, most of the area of the Amatol plant that has also been cleared to form playing fields, and the land to the W, N and E of Shippen House which also no longer retains earthwork remains. The land to the immediate S of Manston Lane does retain some earthwork and structural remains, but these do not clearly relate to features shown on the 1924 plan and are considered to be largely the product of the 1920s colliery. Further to the S, close to the railway, are the footings and earthworks of Barnbow Halt, the booking office, and a guard room: however these peripheral features are not included in the scheduling. The SE part of the monument, covering the surviving structural and earthwork remains of the Amatol plant and its railway loop, is not drawn to modern boundaries because this would be too extensive. Instead, the scheduled area is drawn to include the upstanding remains with an additional 2m margin. To the SW, the scheduling is extended to include the turning wye and the western part of the railway loop, even though these lay outside the boundary of the factory mapped in 1924. This area also includes a siding and the site of a TNT magazine. The monument encircles, but does not include, Lazencroft Farm and the low hill to its N.

EXCLUSIONS: the chain link fence to the E of Barnbow Lane, and N of the western portion of Shippen Plantation, all fence posts, gate posts, telegraph poles, sign posts, water troughs, the three Turner's Curved asbestos huts situated to the NW of the Amaranth Cricket and Football Club playing fields, and the modern farm buildings built on the platform of the former TNT melting house are all excluded from the scheduling; however, the ground beneath is included.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The former First World War National Filling Factory, Barnbow, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Period: as the country’s first National Filling Factory, a milestone of the First World War and the country’s engagement in ‘Total War’ with the large scale employment of women in dangerous work;

* Survival: the extensive buried and upstanding remains of the factory represents nearly its complete layout, Barnbow being the most complete surviving First World War filling factory nationally;

* Potential and Documentation: the archaeological remains, combined with extensive contemporary documentation, provides considerable potential for future research, public display and understanding;

* Social history: with its almost entirely female workforce, Barnbow played a significant role in the changing status of female workers and contributed to women winning the eventual right to vote;

* Commemoration: as the site of the country’s first major loss of female civilian lives during the First World War.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Anon, , History of the Ministry of Munitions, Vol X, The Supply of Munitions, Part V, Gun Ammunition: Filling and Completing, (1921), 15 - 43
Cocroft, W, Dangerous Energy The Archaeology of Gunpowder and Military Explosives Manufacture, (2000), 176 - 178
Gummer, R.H. (Author), The Story of Barnbow, (1919)
Websites
Barnbow Factory Memorial Cross Gates, accessed 4th March 2016 from www.yorkshireindexers.info/wki/index.php?title=Barnbow_Factory_Memorial_Cross_Gates
Barnbow lasses worksheets, accessed 4th March 2016 from www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/3 Shells, shells and more shells.pdf
Barnbow Lasses, Ben Johnson, accessed 4th March 2016 from www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Barnbow-Lasses/
Barnbow Munitions Factory 1915-1918, Roll of Honour - The Women Who Died, Darren Wortley 2009, accessed 4th March 2016 from www.freewebs.com/barnbow/thewomen.htm
Barnbow: Cross Gates factory horror that stayed a secret, accessed 4th March 2016 from www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/barnbow-cross-gates-factory-horror-that-stayed-a-secret-1-279695
Leodis: a photographic archive of Leeds, accessed 4th March 2016 from www.leodis.net
The Story of Barnbow Pit (1924-1930), Part 1 The Early Years, and Part 2 The Disaster, accessed 26th April 2016 from wwwbarwickinelmethistoricalsociety.com/5943.html
York Munitions Workers Memorial, accessed 4th March 2016 from www.freewebs.com/barnbow/memorials.htm
Other
A Brief History of Barnbow Munitions Factory - National Filling Factory Barnbow Depot No.85 Leeds, G.R. Douglas Laycock
History and Record of Barnbow National Filling Factory (MSS), R.H. Gummer, 20th Sept 1919
Research Report series no. 76-2015, First World War National Factories: an archaeological, architectural and historical review, David Kenyon, 2015
West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service: Walkover Survey - Barnbow National Filling Factory No 1

Source: Historic England