Weedon Royal Ordinance Depot

On Tuesday, as part of a regular walking group, I went for an eight mile circular walk around Weedon, Everdon and Stowe Nine Churches. We started and finished the walk at the Plume of Feathers in Weedon Bec. Some of our group expressed interest in the Georgian barracks so a group of us walked up the hill to the gatehouse where an arm of the Grand Junction once entered the depot. It was this site that was to serve as a refuge for George III should the Napoleonic Wars take a turn for the worse. It was constructed around the same time that Blisworth Tunnel was being completed.

The portcullis and entrance into the depot

The depot buildings and canal

We visited the site before with some Aussie friends back in 2010 but on that occasion the gates were firmly closed. Since the site is now in private hands, and it was a weekday, the driveway gates were open. We took advantage of the gatekeeper's good nature(?) to view the site from the just inside the entrance. The size of the site is impressive even though it is now reduced in size. The excellent Subterranea Britanica web site has a lot of fascinating detail about the depot. It appears that the movement of gunpowder up the Grand Junction to Weedon was quite common.

Eastern gatehouse in 2010