 | |
| Company type | State-owned |
|---|---|
| Industry | Firearms |
| Founded | 1816; 209 years ago (1816) |
| Defunct | 1988; 37 years ago (1988) |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Successor | Royal Ordnance |
| Headquarters | Enfield Lock,London, England |
TheRoyal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), also known by themetonymEnfield, was aUK government-ownedrifle factory inEnfield, adjoining theLee Navigation in theLea Valley. Some parts were inWaltham Abbey. The factory producedBritish military rifles,muskets andswords from 1816. It closed in 1988, but some of its work was transferred to other sites.
The factory designed and manufactured many famous British Army weapons including theLee–Enfield rifles which were standard equipment during both World Wars.
The RSAF had its origins in a short-lived Royal Manufactory of Small Arms established inLewisham in 1807. The site in Lewisham was a mill where armour had been made since the fourteenth century. Following its purchase by Henry VIII in 1530, it became known as the Royal Armoury Mills and served hisarmoury in Greenwich. During theNapoleonic War, the increasing demand for large quantities of reliable weapons prompted theBoard of Ordnance to look into building a new factory on a larger site.[1]
The factory was to be located atEnfield Lock on amarshy island bordered by theRiver Lea and theLee Navigation. The land was acquired in 1812 and the factory completed by 1816.[2] The site had the advantages of water-power to drive the machinery and the River Lea Navigation for the transportation by barge of raw materials and finished weapons to the River Thames, 15 miles away, to be loaded onto sailing ships. Neighbouring farmland was acquired to become a restricted area to test ordnance from the Royal Gunpowder Mill.
The RSAF was originally all situated on the east side of the Lea, in theSewardstone hamlet ofWaltham Holy Cross parish, inEssex. The course of the river was diverted during the life of the factory, andpart of the site then fell in Enfield parish. Local boundary changes initiated by SI 1993/1141 after it closed transferred the site entirely fromEpping Forest District to theLondon Borough of Enfield.
The original ambitious plans by CaptainJohn By included three mills. Later, the engineerJohn Rennie recommended the construction of a navigableleat. The leat was made, although only one mill with twowaterwheels was completed.
In 1816 thebarrel branch was transferred fromLewisham. By 1818 thelock and finishing branches had been moved to the site, enabling the closure of the Lewisham factory. Asword-making department was set up in 1823.
The factory fought off the threat of closure in 1831. It remained quite modest in size until theCrimean War of 1853/1856, which resulted in vastly increased production.
In 1856 amachine shop was built onAmericanmass-production lines, using American machinery powered bysteam engines. The shop was based on a design bySir John Anderson and built by theRoyal Engineers. The workforce increased to 1,000. By 1860 an average of 1,744 rifles were produced per week.
In 1866 another major expansion took place, when the watermill gave way to steampower. The total number of steam engines grew to sixteen. By 1887 there were 2,400 employees.
After the liquidation of the National Arms and Ammunition Company in 1887, a number of workshops atSparkbrook were purchased and named Royal Small Arms Factory, Sparkbrook.[3] There were also repair operations in Birmingham. In March 1893 there were 2,025 employees at Enfield and 664 at Sparkbrook, the Sparkbrook number having been reduced by ten per cent in the previous six months.[4] In 1894, repair work was moved from Bagot Street to Sparkbrook. In 1905 manufacture at Sparkbrook was ended and the factory acquired byBSA in early 1906.[5]
Production of the new model rifle designed byJames Paris Lee began in 1889. The famousLee–Enfield rifle was designed in 1895.
The factory expanded duringWorld War I andWorld War II. Two otherRoyal Ordnance Factories were set up in World War II to manufacture rifles designed at RSAF Enfield, to increase arms output in areas less vulnerable to bombing:ROF Fazakerley andROF Maltby. Both of these have long been closed.
Decline set in after World War II. In 1963 half the site was closed.
The Royal Small Arms Factory wasprivatised in 1984 along with a number ofRoyal Ordnance Factories to become part ofRoyal OrdnancePlc. It was later bought byBritish Aerospace (BAe). They closed the site in 1988.[2]
The factory was set up because of disappointment with the poor quality and high cost of the existing British weapons used in the Napoleonic Wars. At this time in Britain, individual components were made mainly in theGun Quarter, Birmingham by a number of independent manufacturers and then hand-assembled to produce muskets. These component makers eventually combined to become theBirmingham Small Arms Company. The Enfield factory was intended to improve the quality and to drive down costs.[2]
Almost all the weapons in which the Royal Small Arms Factory had a hand in design or production carry either the wordEnfield or the lettersEN in their name;
For weapons manufactured at Enfield before 1853, seeBritish military rifles#Early Enfield rifles
The RSAF, Enfield, was famous for itsPattern Room which was a collection, or master set, of everyweapon made at RSAF Enfield.[6] After closure this collection was moved toROF Nottingham, which has since closed. The collection is now held at theRoyal Armouries Museum,Leeds.
Local government boundary changes meant that the majority of the site was now within theLondon Borough of Enfield. The necessary outline planning permissions were obtained for site redevelopment, making closure of the site attractive to its new owners.
Closure was announced in August 1987, shortly after privatisation asRoyal Ordnance. The site closed in 1988. The machinery wasauctioned off in November 1988. BAe then formed ajoint venture with the property companyTrafalgar House to redevelop the site.[2]
The majority of the site is now covered by a large housing development calledEnfield Island Village. The original machine shop frontage and the older part of the rear structure has been retained and was converted into workshops and retail units by the Enfield Enterprise Agency, making use ofEuropean Union (ERDF) funding. The buildings house the RSAF Interpretation centre which can be viewed by appointment only.[7]
The Riflespublic house originally known as theRoyal Small Arms Tavern was compulsorily purchased by the government during the First World War.[8] It closed down in 2004 after a large fire damaged the structure. The partially destroyed building is currently standing (2015). Other pubs which had been built for local works remain standing includingThe Greyhound just west of the River Lea andThe Plough inSewardstone.
In 1895, the community had long had its own school (demolished), and a church (demolished in the 1920s),[9] a police station—with three sergeants and nine constables in 1902. A fire brigade was manned by one professional and 32 amateurs. Housing conditions in the mid 19th century were poor in the area. The still extant Government Row, aterrace of cottages, was built between two watercourses to house some of the factory's workers.
Severalpublic houses were opened close to the complex, includingThe Royal Small Arms Tavern renamedRifles in the late 20th century,The Greyhound,Ordnance Arms[8] andThe Plough. The latter two still survive (2021).[10] The brewersTruman & Hanbury became responsible for the catering within the factory.[11]There is still evidence of the factory in the immediate area, such aspill boxes, bridges and original buildings on the site such as the police house.
51°40′07″N0°00′58″W / 51.668738°N 0.016048°W /51.668738; -0.016048
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