Information for record number MWA8856:
Central Ammunition Depot, Kineton

Summary Ammunition depot.
What Is It?  
Type: Munition House, Ordnance Store
Period: Unknown
Where Is It?  
Parish: Burton Dassett
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 36 50
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 The original depot was planned in 1941 to hold 100,000 tons of ammunition. By the end of the war the depot was holding 137,000 tons in 252 explosive store houses, connected by 90 miles of railway track.
2 A site visit report and sketch plan of an explosive store house at CAD Kineton undertaken in 1999. Only 6 out of the 252 explosive houses remain, many minor buildings and much of the original track layout still exist. A full description of an explosive store house is detailed in this report.
3 Plan of CAD Kineton drawn in 1965.
4 Letter requesting, inter alia, recording of the 6 surviving explosive storage house undertaken in
2
5 Ed Wilson bellieves that the clutch (nuclear bomb site) recorded at RAF Gaydon (MWA8026,
7) may be at this location [ref?].
6 Ref
5 above is incorrect. Bomb store was at Gaydon.
7 Geophysical survey was carried out at the site, as part of planning the ongoing strategy for the site. This recorded a number of areas of magnetic disturbance that, in many cases, could be identified on aerial photography. These features are associated with the 20th century utilisation of the area.
8 AP from 1953.
9 A Second World War ammunition depot which is still in active use by the military in 2012 is visible on aerial photographs as a series of buildings, structures and earthworks. The site comprised a series of ordnance stores surrounded by blast walls, and linked by a network of railway lines and sidings located within railway cuttings flanked by banks and spoil heaps. A domestic/technical site was located in the north eastern corner of the complex with a large number of barracks. A sewage works for the complex is centrally located. A railway engineering site was constructed on the southern side. The site has been redeveloped and almost all the Second World War buildings appear to have been levelled on aerial photographs taken in 1993, with only two still visible on aerial photographs taken in 2007. The site is served by the only remaining active section of the East and West Junction railway (monument number 328616), and around 64 miles of track connect the site within the complex. The Second World War component of this site has been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the South East Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS Target Areas National Mapping Programme. An individual area of Nissen huts was also mapped as part of the NMP as a separate monument but is included in this HER monument boundary-- It is: NRHE 1552509, A Second World War military camp or military depot is visible as a series of buildings and an earthwork on aerial photographs taken in 1946-7. The site appears to have been demolished and levelled on aerial photographs taken in 1993. The site comprises circa 32 Nissen huts, circa 4 storehouses and a probable air raid shelter. This site is a satellite camp or dispersed site at the edge of Kineton ordnance depot (NMR monument number 1417810). This site has been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the South East Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS Target Areas National Mapping Programme It is located at 37736 52451.
 
Sources
Source No: 8
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title: 58/RAF/1235
Author/originator: RAF
Date: 1953
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Flora and Fauna of the Central Ammunition Depot
Author/originator: The Kineton Natural History Club
Date: 1976/1977
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: MOD Sites and Monuments, Kineton
Author/originator: Woodhams, M G
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds NMP Project
Author/originator: Russell Priest
Date: 2010-2012
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Geophysical Survey Report
Title: An Archaeological Geophysical Survey at Edgehill Depot, DM Kineton, Warwickshire
Author/originator: J Walford
Date: 2009
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Monograph
Title: Cold War: Building for Nuclear Confrontation, 1946-1989
Author/originator: Barnwell, P.
Date: 2003
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Plan
Title: Plan of Central Ammunition Depot, Kineton
Author/originator:
Date: 1965
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Site Visit
Title: WW2 Explosive Store Houses at The Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) Kineton
Author/originator: J Brace
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Verbal communication
Author/originator: E Wilson
Date: 2002
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
technique Geophysical Survey The measuring and recording of electrical resistivity or magnetism in order to determine the existence and outline of buried features such as walls and ditches. Geophysical techniques include resistivity survey, magnetometer survey and ground penetrating radar. View Image back
technique Earthwork Earthworks can take the form of banks, ditches and mounds. They are usually created for a specific purpose. A bank, for example, might be the remains of a boundary between two or more fields. Some earthworks may be all that remains of a collapsed building, for example, the grassed-over remains of building foundations.

In the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky than during the other seasons, earthworks have larger shadows. From the air, archaeologists are able to see the patterns of the earthworks more easily. Earthworks can sometimes be confusing when viewed at ground level, but from above, the general plan is much clearer.

Archaeologists often carry out an aerial survey or an earthwork survey to help them understand the lumps and bumps they can see on the ground.
 		back
technique Aerial Photograph Aerial photographs are taken during an aerial survey, which involves looking at the ground from above. It is usually easier to see cropmarks and earthworks when they are viewed from above. Aerial photographs help archaeologists to record what they see and to identify new sites. There are two kinds of aerial photographs; oblique and vertical. back
monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. back
AMMUNITION DEPOT * A site, including buildings and hardstandings, used for the storage and distribution of ammunition. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument BOMB SITE * A site which has been bombed but where there is no crater, eg. bombed buildings. back
monument ORDNANCE STORE * A building or site used by the armed forces for the storage and issuing of military stores and materials. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument MILITARY DEPOT * A building or group of buildings, often enclosed by a system of fortifications, used by an armed force for the storage and distribution of military equipment. back
monument BOUNDARY * The limit to an area as defined on a map or by a marker of some form, eg. BOUNDARY WALL. Use specific type where known. back
monument BOMB STORE * A complex of buildings and earthworks constructed for the storage of bombs and pyrotechnics. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument BARRACKS * A building used to house members of the armed forces. back
monument MILITARY CAMP * A site where a body of troops is temporarily or permanently lodged, with or without entrenchments and fortifications. back
monument ORDNANCE DEPOT * A building or site used by the armed forces for the storage and issuing of military stores and materials. back
TECHNICAL SITE * The area of a military base where engineering and maintenance functions are grouped. back
monument RAILWAY ENGINEERING SITE * Buildings, sites and structures associated with the construction and maintenance of railways and rolling stock. back
monument SEWAGE WORKS * A group of buildings in which local sewage is filtered and purified in large rectangular or circular tanks. back
monument STOREHOUSE * A building in which goods or items are stored. Use more specific type where known. back
monument SPOIL HEAP * A conical or flat-topped tip of waste discarded from a mine or similar site. back
monument AIR RAID SHELTER * A fortified structure used to protect civilians and military personnel from enemy bombing. back
monument NISSEN HUT * A prefabricated structure of a steel frame clad in corrugated iron. Semi-circular in section they were used as accommodation for the armed forces and, during WWII, as emergency housing for bombed out civilians. Also used for storage. back
monument STRUCTURE * A construction of unknown function, either extant or implied by archaeological evidence. If known, use more specific type. back
monument RAILWAY CUTTING * A man-made trough or valley through a hill, carrying at its base a railway. back
monument MUNITION HOUSE * A building for the storage of ammunition and other military stores. back
monument BLAST WALL * A reinforced wall designed to reflect the blast from an explosion. Often found associated with powder magazines, pillboxes and air raid shelters. back
monument RAILWAY * A line or track consisting of iron or steel rails, on which passenger carriages or goods wagons are moved, usually by a locomotive engine. back
monument TARGET * Any structure or object, used for the purpose of practice shooting by aerial, seaborne or land mounted weapons. back
monument DOMESTIC * This is the top term for the class. See DOMESTIC Class List for narrow terms. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument DEPOT * A building or site used as a storage and distribution centre. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record