At BTS we have been lucky enough to be involved with the Former Royal Ordnance Depot at Weedon Bec, Northampton, advising the client on the availability of grant funding for the preservation and repurposing of this remarkable 153 acre heritage site. Built over a period spanning from 1804 to 1816, it was once a unique, military industrial complex, complete with its own defensible transport system and surrounding walls. It was the first major Board of Ordnance establishment to be built far inland in a central location, and its purpose was to receive, securely store, and promptly dispatch muskets, field ordnance and gunpowder to wherever they were needed in an emergency, but principally to counter an expected invasion by Napoleon or to deal with civil unrest.
The Depot comprised an enclosure containing eight storehouses, and a magazine enclosure (with four gunpowder magazines and traverses), and was served by a specially constructed branch from the Grand Junction Canal (known as the Ordnance Canal) as well as being accessible by road. Civil Officers’ houses, a Horse Artillery establishment (barracks and hospital) and residences for workmen were also built as part of the complex. Of the Depot’s original component parts, the storehouse enclosure, the magazine enclosure, and their associated buildings, together with a section of the Ordnance Canal, still survive today.
Following a sensitive redevelopment of the listed buildings, the site now known as ‘The Depot’ offers commercial and creative space, including office, storage, and workshop accommodation, to occupiers. As part of this gradual redevelopment, BTS secured grant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to transform the former ‘Gate House’ into a Visitor Centre, which has attracted large numbers of the public wishing to learn more about its historical significance. Since then BTS has secured further funding through Historic England for a conditional survey of the site and essential repairs to the ‘Heritage at Risk’ Bastions: the four corners of the enclosure walls, which fortified the site against enemy attack. These works are due to commence in 2021.
If you have any Heritage Buildings that could be considered for repurposing or that would benefit from grant funding, please contact us and we would be happy to help.
