ROF Bishopton The Royal Ordnance Factory ( ROF ) Bishopton was a UK Ministry of Supply , World War II , Explosive ROF . It is sited adjacent to the town of Bishopton , Renfrewshire , in Scotland . It was built , with the Ministry of Works acting as Agents , as three separate , almost self - contained , explosive factories within the same perimeter fence . They shared a common Administration Group and Workshop Support Services Group . The factory was built to manufacture propellant , Cordite in the main , for the British Army and the Royal Air Force . It did not produce propellant for the Royal Navy in World War II as the Admiralty demanded , and got , its own propellant factories . The three explosive factories opened between December 1940 and April 1941 . Explosives manufacturing survived on parts of the site until about 2000 ; although ROF Bishopton was privatised in the early 1980s . The privatised ROFs become known in 1984 as Royal Ordnance PLC , then in 1987 as RO Defence ; and now BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions . The site is still owned by BAE Systems , who in conjunction with Redrow Homes , have submitted locally controversial proposals to use a large part of this site for building new housing . If accepted this could , at least , double the size of Bishopton . Construction of the three explosives factories . Choice of Location . Much of the site lies around the 10 metres elevation and this was one of the deciding factors for its location ; as UK explosives factories were built near to sea level to take account of their favorable micro climate s . Some of the site ' s local high - grounds were used for the many nitroglycerin e hills . The other reasons being Clydeside ' s high unemployment rates in the 1920s and 1930s ; the need to locate explosives factories in the United Kingdom safe zone ( see Royal Ordnance Factory ) ; a remote location with good railway links ; and a ready supply of female labour . The Site . The site consists of three , almost self - contained explosive - manufacturing factories ; with a common Administration Group and Workshops Support Services Group . Building work on the first factory started in April 1937 , the second stated in April 1939 and the third in October 1939 . The long delay in opening the first factory was due to the critical shortage of a guaranteed water supply . The site has three separate water mains : Fire Fighting , Process Water and Drinking water ; and needed a guaranteed supply of about ten million gallon s per day . The site was built on farm land , acquired by compulsory purchase , on the other side of the railway line from the village of Bishopton . However , the southern end of the site included land occupied by the former , by now closed , World War I Scottish Filling Factory ( National Filling Factory No . 4 ) , NFF Georgetown . Over of land from up to seven farms was used to accommodate these three factories . The land included Dargavel House and its grounds , the house still survives within the site boundary ; as well as a number of former farm houses and public roads that were absorbed into the ROF site . Factory 0 . Every building on the site was numbered ; one part of the number code indicated whether the building was assigned to Factory 0 , 1 , 2 or 3 . Factory 0 consisted of the non - explosive sectors of the site ( mostly nearest to Bishopton itself ) . Factory 0 contained most of the supporting services for the nearly self - contained manufacturing site . A permanently manned fire station with its own fire brigade ; clothing and general stores , laboratories , machine shops , general workshops , laundry , leather workshop , chemical plumber ' s workshop , carpenter ' s workshops , and ( empty ) ammunition box stores . It also housed the administration block , a few of the site ' s many canteens , the ambulance station , the medical centre , the mortuary and the motor transport ( M / T ) section . Factories I , II and III . Factories I , II and III each had their own coal - fired power stations for producing high - pressure steam for generating electricity using steam - turbine - alternators ; with the resulting low pressure steam used for site heating and Cordite drying . The three power - stations were also interlinked by high - pressure steam mains . Each factory had three nitroglycerine hills , operating on a batch process , to produce nitroglycerine . Factories I and II ( and possibly III ) had their own nitration plants for making nitrocellulose . Nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose were then processed to produce Cordite . Factory II lay south of the former public road between Bishopton station and Reilly farm , it included parts of the former NFF Georgetown . Nearly all the buildings , with the exception of the buildings on the nitroglycerine hills which were light - weight , were steel frame d buildings with triple - brick walls and bomb - proof reinforced concrete roofs . However , some of the buildings in factory III , which was built last , such as the power station , were clad with corrugated iron to reduce costs . Other facilities . ROF Bishopton had an RDX plant installed in World War II . The plant was declared redundant to requirements and was dismantled in 1950 . It was apparently then shipped to Albion Explosives , presumably at Cairnlea Australia , and re - erected . Included within the site boundary , but separate from it on the old NFF site , was an armoured fighting vehicle ( AFV ) storage compound . This was linked to an AFV repair factory at Linwood , the REME factory . Railways . The southern end of the site near the River Gryfe was connected to what was then the Caledonian Railway line . The connection , just north of the former Houston ( Georgetown ) railway station , dated back to World War I and the Georgetown Filling Factory . The railway connection was probably severed and the rail track lifted when the Inverclyde Line was electrified in 1960s . Within ROF Bishopton ' s perimeter fence this line was still there in the 1990s albeit with 20 - 30 year - old trees growing between the sleepers and rails . The main standard gauge link from the railway line , by now the LMS , was just northwest of Bishopton station . ROF Bishopton had a large transfer sidings here , connected to both the up and down lines . The ROF line , which was never electrified , ran through the transfer sidings . It crossed Ingleston Road , via a gated level crossing ( grade crossing ) , and entered the ROF site from the north . The link remained in - situ right up to closure , but was little used after the early 1990s . ROF Bishopton had about 20 miles of standard gauge railway line within its perimeter fence , its own fleet of nitric acid wagons and its own diesel locomotives for shunting . They were used to move wagons between the transfer sidings and various locations within the ROF site . In addition , ROF Bishopton had some 80 miles of 2 ft 6 in ( 762 mm ) gauge narrow gauge railway lines for transporting explosives within the site . There was a large fleet of rolling stock and a specialist workshop for maintenance of the locomotives which were kept in excellent mechanical condition . Many items of narrow gauge railway equipment from Bishopton still exist and can be seen at locations such as the Almond Valley Light Railway ( six assorted locomotives ) and the Amberley Museum Railway ( locomotive No . 12 and wagons ) . Housing . Housing to accommodate what was later to become the Ministry of Defence Police was provided locally in Bishopton . Two new streets were built to provide housing for married police constables and sergeant s - Holm Park and Rossland Crescent . Barracks block accommodation for unmarrried police was built adjacent to Holm Park ; it was used from the 1970s onwards as a MoD Police social club . Some prefabricated houses were also built in Rossland Crescent , but these have been demolished . Houses for essential staff , such as managers who needed to be on call , were provided on Poplar Avenue . Also Ingleston Drive may possibly have been built for ROF workers . A hostel for single women workers was built in Paisley , by the Ministry of Labour , on Oakshaw Street . Post World War II . After the closure of the Royal Navy Propellant Factory , Caerwent , in 1965 , ROF Bishopton started making Cordite for the Royal Navy . Privatisation . As a part of the Explosives Division of Royal Ordnance Plc , the ROF was privatised in 1984 and sold to British Aerospace in 1987 . The MOD Fire Service moved out after privatisation ; and the MOD Police moved out after the sale to British Aerospace . Their former Social Club at Holm Park , with its adjoining sports field , became part of facilities of Bishopton village . The former MOD Police houses at both Holm Park and Rossland Crescent were retained by the Ministry of Defence and were sold off in the mid - 1980s to private buyers . As they were still connected to ROF Bishopton ' s sewage system and water supply system they had to be connected to the public systems before they could be sold . The workforce fell from about 3 , 000 in the late 1970s to 2 , 000 at the time of privatisation in 1984 . The workforce was about 1 , 000 in 1991 and was reduced to about 600 in 1993 . There was a further reduction in 1996 to 450 employees as the business tried to reduce costs . It was announced in 1998 that the site would close after the loss of a major government contract for the supply of 155mm ammunition to the South African defence contractor , Denel . Manufacture on the site finally ceased in June 2002 . During the 1990s , significant investment was made to the site automating its Nitrogylycerine , Nitrocellulose and Nitroguanidine manufacturing plants which both improved manufacturing capabilities and process safety . Prior to its closure the site was producing gun and rocket propellant for use in numerous weapons systems . Closure . BAE Systems is the current owner of the former - ROF Bishopton site where an Environmental Test Facility ( ETF ) and the Gun Propulsion engineering group are located .