page_title: History of Christchurch, Dorset
section_title: Ministry of Defence and the electronics industry
hierarchical_section_title: History of Christchurch, Dorset / Industrial history / Ministry of Defence and the electronics industry
caption_attribution_description: English: A Bailey Bridge spanning the River Stour at what was once the site of the Experimental Bridging Company of the Royal Engineers in Christchurch, Dorset. It was while working here that Sir Donald Bailey invented it and the first prototypes were designed and built.
context_page_description: Christchurch is a town, civil parish and former borough in the county of Dorset on the English Channel coast, adjoining Bournemouth in the west, with the New Forest to the east. Historically in Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974 and is the most easterly borough in the county. The town has existed since 650 AD and its close proximity to the Cotentin Peninsula made it an important trading port and a potential target for invasion during the Napoleonic and Second World Wars.
  Situated at the lowest crossing points of the Avon and Stour, it was originally known as Twynham, from "tweon eam", meaning between two rivers. It was not until the construction of the priory in 1094 that the town became known as Christchurch. In Saxon times the harbour was one of the most important in England and the town became both a Royal manor and a burgh. During its turbulent history, the town has witnessed battles between Saxons, when Aethelwold stormed the ramparts; between Royalists and Parliamentarians during the civil war, and between smugglers and excise men during the 18th century.
context_section_description: Christchurch has had a long relationship with the military and Ministry of Defence. The Barracks were built by Lord Tregonwell in 1794 to house troops to defend the south coast from the threat of invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte. Once this threat had passed, it was used by mounted troops who patrolled the nearby coastline in an attempt to combat smuggling. Parts of the original barracks still exist including the guard house, the stable block and the officer's mess. The Barracks later (1919) became the Military Experimental Engineering Establishment (Originally the Experimental Bridging Company of Royal Engineers) where Sir Donald Bailey designed and built his famous bridge. In 1970 Military Experimental Establishment (MEXE) merged with the Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE) at Chertsey to form the Military Vehicles Experimental Establishment (MVEE) which closed in the 1994. The site became a housing estate and retail park in 1997. A measure of the success of the Bailey Bridge can be made from its production figures. Between 1942 and 1945, over 490,000 tons of Bailey Bridge were produced. It is estimated that if all the panels produced during WWII were put together they would reach from Christchurch to Leningrad.
  Between 1948 and 1980, Signals Research and Development Establishment(SRDE) were based in Christchurch on the airfield and at Friars Cliff. Two giant 'radomes' were constructed at Steamer Point to house satellite tracking equipment. When a number of MOD establishments merged in 1979, SRDE became the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE). A year later RSRE relocated and the site was leased to Plessey Defence Systems  who built (amongst other things) the widely used Ptarmigan radio. British Aerospace now share the site with the Spectrum Group.
  In 1940 HM Government built a factory in the corner of Christchurch airfield. It was occupied by Airspeed until 1948 when De Havilland took it over. The Horsa, Ambassador, Mosquito, Vampire, Sea Vampire, Sea Venom and  Sea Vixen were all manufactured here and in addition a number of Spitfires were converted into Seafires. By 1954, over 2000 people were working there.
  The factory closed in 1962, part of it is still owned by the Crown who use it for storage of documents.
  In 1963, the other part became Shand Kydd, the famous wallpaper company established in London in 1891. Shand Kydd closed in 1980 when the premises were taken over by Revo Castors. The last Sea Vixen manufactured at the Christchurch site stood for many years at the entrance to the Airfield Industrial Estate close to where it was built. It was eventually removed because of vandalism and taken to the aviation museum at RAF Tangmere where it was restored.
  Cecil Gardner had already made a name for himself manufacturing radio sets, recharging accumulators and ac/dc transformers from a small factory in Southbourne; when in 1939 he moved into a purpose built factory in Somerford Road, Christchurch. He soon had plenty of business making transformers for American pilots who needed to convert the British 240 volt supply to the 110 volt they were using, and lighting transformers for air raid shelters. Gardner's also won contracts with the Telecommunications Research Establishment and the Ministry of Aircraft Production. After the war, contracts from the Admiralty and the Atomic Energy Research Establishment allowed the business to grow and Gardner's were soon employing around 300 people. Gardner's contributed to the local economy not just because it was a major employer but also because it attracted others to the area such as Penny and Giles (potentiometers) and Plessey Defence Systems who came to take advantage of the local skilled workforce. The factory closed in the late 1990s partly due to an increase in cheap imports.
caption: Bailey Bridge over the Stour, at the rear of what was once the barracks where it was invented and manufactured.
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