A UK government-owned rifle factory, which was to be later known as the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), Enfield which has produced British military rifles and muskets since 1804. For other uses, see Rifle (disambiguation). ... The origins of the British military rifle are within its predecessor the Brown Bess musket; the variance being rifling in the barrel, which among other advantages imparts a spin on the bullet increasing both the range and the accuracy. ...

It was built on the instructions of the Board of Ordnance on marsh land at Enfield Lock, on the banks of the River Lea, round about the end of the Napoleonic War. The British Board of Ordnance was responsible for the design, testing and production of armaments and munitions. ... Freshwater marsh in Florida In geography, a marsh is a type of wetland, featuring grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, cat tails, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water. ... Enfield Lock is a place in the London Borough of Enfield. ... This article is not about the River Lee that flows through Cork, in the Republic of Ireland; see River Lee (Ireland). ... The Napoleonic Wars lasted from 1804 until 1815. ...

It was privatised in 1984 along with a number of Royal Ordnance Factories to become part of Royal Ordnance Plc; which was later bought by British Aerospace (BAe), who closed the site in 1988. Privatization (alternately denationalization or disinvestment) is the transfer of property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private sector (business). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK governments munitions factories in and after World War II. Until privatisation in 1987 they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply and later the Ministry of Defence. ... Royal Ordnance was the state-run arms manufacturer in the United Kingdom which was privatised in 1984 and sold off by the government to British Aerospace (BAe) in 1987. ... The initials PLC after a UK or Irish company name indicate that it is a public limited company, a type of limited company whose shares may be offered for sale to the public. ... British Aerospace (BAe) was a UK aircraft manufacturer, now part of BAE Systems. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The significance of RSAF Enfield

The factory was set up because of disappointment with the quality and cost of the existing British weapons used in the Napoleonic War. At this time in Britain, they were built as individual gun components mainly in the Gun Quarter, Birmingham by a number of independent manufacturers and then hand-assembled to produce rifles. These component makers eventually combined to become the Birmingham Small Arms Company. The Enfield factory was intended to improve the quality and to drive down costs. The Gun Quarter is the name given to an area of the city of Birmingham, in England, traditionally (and still) associated with the manufacture of firearms and sporting guns. ... The Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) was a British manufacturer of vehicles, firearms, and military equipment, and still exists as an airgun sport manufacturer and distributor. ...

Weapons designed / built at RSAF Enfield

Almost all the weapons in which the Royal Small Arms Factory had a hand in design or production carry either the word Enfield or the letters EN in their name; Bren (Brno + Enfield), the Enfield revolver, the Lee-Enfield, Sten (Shepherd Turpin + Enfield) and the Polsten guns. The Bren (from Brno, the Czechoslovakian town of design, and Enfield, the location of the British Royal Small Arms Factory), usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of squad automatic weapon/light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles into the 1980s. ... Enfield No. ... Lee-Enfield No4 Mk1 with bayonet, scabbard attached The Lee-Enfield was the British armys standard bolt action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle from 1895 until 1956. ... This article is about the submachine gun. ... The Polsten was a low cost 20 mm autocannon developed from the Oerlikon gun in Poland. ...

Two other Royal Ordnance Factories were set up in World War II to manufacture rifles designed at Enfield, and to greatly increase its capacity: ROF Fazakerley and ROF Maltby. Both of these have long been closed. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States France Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Charles de Gaulle Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hirohito Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead...

The RSAF, Enfield, was famous for its Pattern Room which was a collection, or master set, of every weapon made at RSAF Enfield. After closure this collection was moved to ROF Nottingham; which has since closed. A pattern is a form, template, or model (or, more abstractly, a set of rules) which can be used to make or to generate things or parts of a thing, especially if the things that are generated have enough in common for the underlying pattern to be inferred or discerned... The bayonet is used as both knife and spear. ...

Closure

Boundary changes meant that the majority of the site was now within the London Borough of Enfield. The necessary outline planning permisions were obtained for site redevelopment; making closure of the site attractive to its new owners. The London Borough of Enfield is the most northerly London borough and forms part of Outer London. ...

Closure was announced on 12 August 1987, shortly after privatisation, and the site closed in 1988; the machinery was auctioned off in November 1988. BAe then formed a joint venture with the property company Trafalgar House to redevelop the site. August 12 is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An auctioneer and her assistants scan the crowd for bidders An auction is the process of buying and selling things by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder. ... A joint venture (often abbreviated JV) is an entity formed between two or more parties to undertake economic activity together. ... Trafalgar House was a United Kingdom conglomerate with interests in property, property development, construction, passenger shipping and engineering. ...

The majority of the site is now covered by a large housing development. The original machine shop frontage and the older part of the rear structure has been retained and was converted into workshops and retail units by the Enfield Enterprise Agency, making use of European Union (ERDF) funding. The new development is called Enfield Island Village. A small museum can be viewed by appointment only. Enfield Island Village is a large housing development in north east Enfield. ... The Louvre Museum in Paris, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. ...

External links

• Royal Small Arms Factory
• Pam, David, (1998). The Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield & Its Workers. Enfield: Published privately.
• (1973) "Preservation: Royal Small Arns Pattern Room" in: After the Battle, 2, (Pages 42 - 43). Old Harlow: After the Battle.