Although war with revolutionary France had officially ended with the signing of the Peace of Amiens, on March 27th 1802, it was soon realised that Napoleon could not be trusted and it was essential that preparations to repel an invasion should continue as before.   Uneasy times and a fear that Napolean might just manage to outwit our superior navy, land a large army on the south coast and get a foothold on the mainland.

At that time the Board of Ordnance kept its major reserves of arms, ammunition and gunpowder in large, dedicated stores ready to supply the garrison towns and fleet bases.   These major stores and all the mainland Board of Ordnance factories were situated within a relatively small area around the Thames estuary in the southeast of the country.

• WALTHAM ABBEY - Royal Gunpowder Factory

• PURFLEET - Gunpowder Depot

• TOWER of LONDON - Small Arms Store

• WOOLWICH WARREN - Manufacture and Storage Artillery and Ammunition

• FAVERSHAM - Powder Mills

If the war with France resumed and Napoleon managed to invade the southeast corner of England then the whole of the country's major reserves of weapons and ammunition would be at risk of being destroyed or captured.

So, an Act of Parliament in 1803 and by order of King George III, secured around 53 acres of land here at Weedon to build a state-of-the-art secure Ordnance depot along with a safe and secure magazine for some of the nation’s stocks of gunpowder.

The job was entrusted to a Captain Robert Pilkington, Royal Engineer, to direct the construction of The Royal Depot at Weedon and work started in 1804 and continued through to about 1816.

Join us and learn more about the design, building and military occupation of this site for over 200 years.