Gravity Campus

Gravity Smart Campus

The Gravity Smart Campus, on the site of the former Royal Ordnance Factory, will house the Agratas gigafactory. Royal Ordnance Factory 37, the factory formerly based at Gravity, was in operation for 67 years, becoming an integral part of people’s lives in the surrounding villages and towns.

Opened in 1941, at the height of its production over 2,800 people were employed on the site ranging from chemists and technicians to office, security and canteen staff. Generations of local families worked at the plant, and its social centre Club 37, which still thrives today as a community hub, was at the heart of it all.

At the outbreak of World War Two, the government had chosen the site as the ideal location for a Royal Ordnance factory, which needed around 4.5 million gallons of water each day. Airey homes – prefabricated houses – were produced at the plant in response to the urgent need to replace homes that had been destroyed during the Blitz of 1940 and 1941. After the war, manufacture turned to the production of materials for the plastics industry. In 1987, the government sold the factory to BAE which continued manufacturing until the site was decommissioned in 2008.

Club 37 remains at the heart of local life and represents an enduring link to the site’s extraordinary past. We are celebrating this legacy, and taking inspiration from it, as we look to position the Gravity site once more as a place to grow careers, create new opportunities and bring people together. Gravity is supporting The South West Heritage Trust in a range of projects to create a living historical record of what it was like to work at the site.

Since acquiring the site in 2017 and launching its Smart Campus vision in 2018, Gravity has passed a number of milestones.

Building on its manufacturing past, buzz of activity and community spirit, Gravity, with its anchor business, Agratas will once again become an employment hub supporting an active ecosystem of businesses in a desirable environment.

Our Lives at ROF 37

The South West Heritage Trust was commissioned by Sedgemoor District Council to produce the short film. Late last year the public was invited to share their memories at two Community Heritage Days held at the 37 Club. More than 20 former employees were interviewed by Somerset Film. The scope of the project included the recording of documents, photographs and memorabilia.