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Irvine, Kyle Works
Explosives Factory (20th Century)
Site Name Irvine, Kyle Works
Classification Explosives Factory (20th Century)
Canmore ID 379390
Site Number NS33NW 407
NGR NS 3126 3779
NGR Description c. NS 3126 3779
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/379390
- Council North Ayrshire
- Parish Dundonald (Cunninghame)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cunninghame
- Former County Ayrshire
Note
NS33NW
c. NS 3126 3779
Kyle Factory was an offshoot of the ICI Ardeer Factory from 1935. The factory concentrated on the fulfillment of military contracts for pyrotechnic work (e.g. smoke signals). The factory was constructed on the modified remains of a factory in an area of land owned by ICI, either the Irvine Chemical Works [closed 1906, originally United Alkali Company, later part of ICI] or of an earlier spelter works [see Ordnance survey 25-inch plan (Ayrshire, 1910, sheet XVI.16)] on or near the site.
Steam for the production process was obtained from the adjacent Bottle Glass Works to the northeast of the site, water from the Irvine Water Company and Electricity from the Ayrshire Electricity Board. Road transport was used as it did not have a direct link to the main railway line.
The factory produced grenade signals for the Admiralty and the Air Ministry until 1939, when further expansion took place to produce reconnaissance flares for the Air Ministry. By 1941, the workforce was 300 strong (up from 50 in 1935). 'Cordtex' fuse wire was added to the production line during 1941 along with other products such as pentaerythritol tetranitrate or PETN, used in demolition explosives and blasting caps.
The peak workforce in April 1944 stood at 393 (262 women and 161 men).
MS 8270/17; notes added by HES (Miriam McDonald, Heritage Research Service), 5 August 2024.
