Chittening: Difference between revisions
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===No.23 Filling Factory=== |
===No.23 Filling Factory=== |
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During [[World War 1]], the [[Ministry of Munitions]] built a [[filling factory]] for shells on the site, which was farmland commandeered by the military for its closeness to Avonmouth docks and the chemical works in St Andrew's Road, Avonmouth. There, operated by [[AkzoNobel|Nobel Explosives]], shells were filled with [[picric acid]] (derived industrially from [[chloropicrin]]). In |
During [[World War 1]], the [[Ministry of Munitions]] built a [[filling factory]] for shells on the site, which was farmland commandeered by the military for its closeness to Avonmouth docks and the chemical works in St Andrew's Road, Avonmouth. There, operated by [[AkzoNobel|Nobel Explosives]], shells were filled with [[picric acid]] (derived industrially from [[chloropicrin]]). In defiance of the [[Hague Convention]], the German army used [[mustard gas]] ([[dichloroethyl sulphide]]) against Allied troops on the Eastern and Western Fronts in 1917, and the [[British]] minister of munitions, [[Winston Churchill]], ordered supplies to be manufactured in Britain for use in retaliation. Having first used captured German gas in late 1917, from June 1918 three filling factories, at [[Banbury]], [[ROF Rotherwas]] at [[Hereford]], and Chittening, were supplied with freshly manufactured mustard gas by the nearby [[National Smelting Company]] which had been established close to [[Avonmouth Docks]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Haber L.F.|date=1986|title=''The Poisonous Cloud|publisher=Oxford University Press|ISBN=9780198581420|chapter=10}}</ref> By November 1918, Chittening had produced 85,424 mustard gas shells; but at a human cost of 1213 cases of associated illness, including two deaths which were later attributed to [[influenza]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VCtRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT38&lpg=PT38&dq=Chittening+munitions+factory&source=bl&ots=q9nhVgd-yj&sig=fww3lJqB1nT2bgazcc3WUzF5PJ4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=noVyU5KlHfTb7Ab004Fw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Chittening%20munitions%20factory&f=false|title=The Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War|author=Ian F.W. Beckett|accessdate=13 May 2014}}</ref> |
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===Post WW1=== |
===Post WW1=== |
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Revision as of 12:28, 11 November 2014
Chittening is an industrial estate 2 miles north of Avonmouth, Bristol, England on the A403 road, near the River Severn. It lies within the Bristol city boundary.
History
Name
Chittening was once a farm, historically in the parish of Redwick and Northwick, which had been detached from Henbury at an unknown date. It was first recorded in 1658 and 1702 as Chitnend. The name apparently comes from the Middle English chitten ende, from Middle English or Early Modern English chitte 'young of an animal; brat, child' + end(e) 'end [of a parish or estate]'. [1]
No.23 Filling Factory
During World War 1, the Ministry of Munitions built a filling factory for shells on the site, which was farmland commandeered by the military for its closeness to Avonmouth docks and the chemical works in St Andrew's Road, Avonmouth. There, operated by Nobel Explosives, shells were filled with picric acid (derived industrially from chloropicrin). In defiance of the Hague Convention, the German army used mustard gas (dichloroethyl sulphide) against Allied troops on the Eastern and Western Fronts in 1917, and the British minister of munitions, Winston Churchill, ordered supplies to be manufactured in Britain for use in retaliation. Having first used captured German gas in late 1917, from June 1918 three filling factories, at Banbury, ROF Rotherwas at Hereford, and Chittening, were supplied with freshly manufactured mustard gas by the nearby National Smelting Company which had been established close to Avonmouth Docks.[2] By November 1918, Chittening had produced 85,424 mustard gas shells; but at a human cost of 1213 cases of associated illness, including two deaths which were later attributed to influenza.[3]
Post WW1
The industrial estate (or "trading estate") developed after the war, under the management of the Port of Bristol Authority. In 1951 a factory producing carbon black was built next to the estate, and operated until 2008 when its closure was announced.[4]
Between 1917 and 1964 Chittening was served by Chittening Platform railway station.
Chittening Warth
Chittening Warth is an area of salt marsh beside the Severn Estuary, just to the west of the industrial estate. At low tide the mudflats there are visited by large numbers of birds, including Dunlin, Eurasian Curlew, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Common Redshank and Whimbrel. In some winters there are large populations of field voles, which attract Short-eared Owls.[5]
Transport
Chittening is served by St Andrews Road railway station.
References
- ^ Smith, A. H. (1964) The Place-Names of Gloucestershire vol. 3 (Cambridge University Press), p. 138.
- ^ Haber L.F. (1986). "10". The Poisonous Cloud. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198581420.
- ^ Ian F.W. Beckett. "The Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War". Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- ^ Bristol Evening Post, 3 December 2008
- ^ Bristol City Council Biodiversity Action Plan: Estuarine habitats