Somerdale Factory
Somerdale was a factory located in Keynsham near Bristol and Bath in south west England. It is the home of a Cadbury plc's production factory, and was originally built by the Fry family when they expanded through consolidation of a number of existing facilities located in the centre of Bristol.
After the First World War, Cadbury Brothers undertook a financial merger with J. S. Fry & Sons, which completed in 1919. As a result of the merger, Egbert Cadbury joined the Fry side of the business. Along with Cecil Roderick Fry he was instrumental in the relocation and of the Bristol operations of Fry from Union Street to a 228-acre (0.92 km2) greenfield site called Somerdale Garden City, after a national competition in 1923.
As Quakers, the factory was built with social facilities, including playing fields and a large recreational sports grounds, which still today serves the town of Keynsham. This transfer took 11 years as production was gradually transferred as the modern blocks erected. Finally completed in 1935, at its height the Somerdale workforce was in excess of 5,000. It had its own power station and railway, with connection to the Great Western Railway via sidings at Keynsham railway station. During World War 2, with chocolate production reduced due to war time rationing, spare floor capacity was taken over by Rolls Royce to produce Merlin engines.
Presently, Keynsham Cadbury is the home of Fry's Chocolate Cream, the Double Decker, Dairy Milk, Chocolate Buttons, Cream Eggs and Mini Eggs, Cadbury's Fudge, Chomp and most importantly, the Crunchie. According to Cadbury Employees (or 'Chocolate Welders' as they are locally known), the Crunchie Machine makes enough bars to stretch to The Moon and back every week.
On 3 October, 2007, Cadbury announced plans to close the Somerdale plant by 2010 with the loss of some 500 jobs. In an effort to maintain competitiveness in a global marketplace, production will be moved to a sister factory in Skarbimierz, Poland. Another motivational factor was the high real estate value of the land. In the longer term it is likely the largely greenfield site will be re-classified and provide Keynsham with much needed additional housing. Labour MP for Wansdyke, Dan Norris said "news of the factory's closure is a hard and heavy blow, not just to the workforce, but to the Keynsham community as a whole".[1]
In late 2007 campaigns to save the Cadbury's Factory in Somerdale were in full swing. One local resident started a campaign to urge English Heritage to protect the site, and preserve the history of the factory. If successful this campaign is hoped to stop the land being sold for housing, and the historic Somerdale factory being destroyed.[2]
In February 2010, following the takeover of Cadbury plc by Kraft Foods, the closure was confirmed to take place in 2011,[3] and all production of Cadbury products will be moved to China.
Roman villa
The remains of a small Roman villa, about 50 feet square, are in the grounds of Somerdale Factory, near the main road entrance to the site. The remains were discovered during the construction of the factory in 1922, and moved to the present site. The discovery included two stone coffins.[4]
References
- ^ "Cadbury factories shed 700 jobs". BBC News. 3 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Save Our Somerdale
- ^ "Cadbury's Bristol plant to close by 2011". BBC News. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- ^ "Keynsham Heritage Trust". Keynsham Heritage Trust. Retrieved 25 April 2010.