Admiralty Park comprises part of the former Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, originally a square mile site constructed in 1915 on the specific orders of Winston Churchill, the then First Lord of the Admiralty. The primary reason for its’ construction was to ensure the Royal Navy obtained a significant quantity of finest quality cordite, this being the primary ingredient for the propellant of ordnance.
The site represented a magnificent achievement in that construction took around a year to complete despite having to provide a power station, reservoir, train station and numerous factory buildings.
For the remainder of the First World War, around 2,000 people were employed on the site
although, by its heyday in 1938, this had grown to 4,500 workers.
After the end of the Second World War production reduced to the point where, in 1957, it ceased altogether. The facility continued as an operational Naval establishment primarily concerned with underwater activities and cutting edge technologies with a reduced workforce of between 300 and 400 up until the gates closed in 1997.
In 2003, DRA Holton Heath, (now re-branded as Admiralty Park), was sold by Defence Estates to Birchmere Limited, a Poole-based commercial property developer and investor who are systematically working through the site, improving infrastructure and refurbishing to modern standards the original buildings wherever possible to provide a unique business park within a mature woodland setting.