At the beginning of the 1950s there was a growth in the construction of very specialised facilities to exploit new post-war technologies such as nuclear power.
Typical of this growth, AWRE Orfordness was one of only a few sites in the UK, and indeed the world, where purpose built facilities were created for testing the components of nuclear weapons. At the height of the Cold War AWRE and the Royal Aircraft Establishment used Orford Ness for developmental work on the Atomic Bomb.
Initial work on the Atomic Bomb concentrated on recording the flight of the weapon and monitoring the electronics within it during flight but a bulk of the work involved environmental testing, which in itself was being developed and advanced. Although built and developed specifically for the testing of nuclear weapons, by the 1960s efforts were being made to find commercial markets for the site's capabilities.
Between 1953 and 1966 the six large test cells and most of the other buildings on the shingle around them were built to carry out the environmental tests on the Atomic Bomb. These tests were designed to mimic the rigours to which a weapon might be subjected before detonation, and included vibration, extremes of temperature, shocks and G forces.
©National Trust
Interior of the Centrifugal Testing Building - Lab 3
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Although no nuclear material was said to be involved the high explosive initiator was present and a test failure might have resulted in a catastrophic explosion. For this reason the tests were controlled remotely and the huge labs were designed to absorb and dissipate an explosion in the event of an accident.
©National Trust
The two test laboratories known as the 'Pagodas'
Perhaps the most impressive buildings from this period are two of the test labs - the so-called 'Pagodas' - which have become such well-known landmarks on this part of the coast. The work was secret although details of Orford Ness' involvement with the research and development of the British atomic bomb may become more available over the next decades and may illustrate the priority and significance this project had to the government in the post war years.
©National Trust
Inside a 'Pagoda' lab - Lab 4
Amongst the atomic experimental sites Orford Ness is perhaps the most architecturally dramatic and remains the only one allowing general public access at the present time. The AWRE finally ceased work on the site in 1971.
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Laboratory 1
Completed in 1956, this was the first of six atomic weapons test cells constructed on Orford Ness by the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) from Aldermaston. It was used for both mechanical and vibration testing and for drop tests. The main section of the building is divided into two cells.
©National Trust
Interior of 'Lab 1'
The one in the foreground contains a pit into which very large weapons such as Britain's first atomic bomb, Blue Danube, could be lowered by a 10-ton crane, prior to vibration units being attached. The cell was then sealed to allow the manipulation of the internal environment by an array of air conditioning units.
The far cell contained a hydraulic ram, which was used to subject the test piece to extreme 'g' forces. A light aluminium roof was designed to blow off in the event of an accident. Later test cells such as Labs 4 and 5 - known locally as the 'Pagodas' - had heavy reinforced concrete roofs designed to absorb a blast and any objects thrown out by an accidental explosion. The first major test on an atomic weapon on Orford Ness took place in this lab on August Bank Holiday Monday 1956.
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AWRE Magazine
This building , built in 1962, was where bombs were stored prior to being taken to the Labs for testing. It was also used by the Bomb Disposal Unit, based on site from 1967, to store their explosives.
©National Trust
AWRE Magazine building
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