Aerial view of the R.O.F. Nottingham . 1936
Facility Type & Function:
National Projectile Factory (N.P.F.) and later National Ordnance Factory (N.O.F.) – As a N.P.F. (February 1916 to 1st October 1917) the works manufactured 9.2″ and 6″ shells. Thereafter it acted as a N.O.F. and manufactured and repaired 18-pdr and 6″ guns.
Brief History:
In August 1915 Nottingham Corporation offered a 14 acre site at King’s Meadow between the Midland Railway and the King’s Field Road, for the purpose of constructing a N.P.F.
Construction of the works and railway sidings began in September of that year under the supervision of the established armaments company Cammell, Laird & Company Limited who went on to manage operations at the factory, accepting no fee from the government for their efforts. Production of 9.2-inch and 6-inch shells began at the works in March 1916.
At the beginning of 1917 there were as many as 5,835 workers employed of whom 54 per cent were women. By July the factory was producing 13,000 6-inch shells weekly. A few months earlier it had taken on several other tasks such as the repair and manufacture of 18-pounder guns as well as the production of Italian (149 mm) shells.
In autumn 1917 a decision was taken to re-direct the work of the factory exclusively to gun manufacture and repair, although this was implemented through a gradual transition.
Ground plan of the R.O.F. Nottingham, 1919-20
By June 1918 the factory had produced nearly 900,000 shells and by October it had manufactured 466 18-pounder and 6-inch guns and repaired well over 600 more. At this time its workforce was reduced to 1,725 men and only 900 women.
From 1923 until 1936 the works passed into private ownership under Cammell Laird & Co. Ltd. (plus later subsidiaries) until it was again taken over by the British Government to become the Royal Ordnance Factory, Nottingham. The works continued to operate as an R.O.F and armaments production centre until its final closure in 2001 . No part of the original N.P.F. now remains on the site.
Location Details:
King’s Meadow, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire , England – National Factory Area No.4
Associated Token, Check & Pass Issues:
Type I
Function: Unknown (Note 1)
Material: Brass
Design: Bi-facial with a milled and pierced for suspension
Shape & Size: Circular, 37.0 mm
Obverse: Raised legend within an outer raised and beaded border reads NOTTM NATIONAL PROJECTILE FACTORY. plus in the upper centre field in two lines CHECK / No. Below 810 incusely stamped above a raised line.
Reverse: Blank
Date: 1916 to 1917
Maker: Unknown
Published References: None known
Type II
(Image courtesy of Malcolm Johnson Collection)
Function: Tool Check
Material: Brass
Design: Uniface with a plain edge and centrally pierced for suspension at its top with what appears to be two secondary pierced holes of unknown use.
Shape & Size: Circular, 32.8 mm
Obverse: Raised legend within inner line and an outer beaded border reads NATIONAL ORDNANCE FACTORY . NOTTINGHAM . Additional legend in two lines above and below incusely stamped number 4816 located in centre field, above a raised line, reads TOOL CHECK
Reverse: Blank
Date: 1917 to 1923 (Note 2)
Maker: Unknown
Published References: Mal’s Tokens – Factory Tokens (website)
Notes:
- Possibly a worker’s factory pass, time, pay or tool check.
- Between October 1917 to 1923 the works become a N.O.F.
British War Work Tokens 