High Down Rocket Test Site
The High Down Rocket Test Site is a former Rocket Testing facility on High Down near The Needles.[1][2][3]
The remains of the High Down Test Site are a rare example of a 1950s British rocket testfacility, built at a time when the country was amongst a handful of nations at the forefront of rocket and missile technology. Internationally, large rocket testing facilities of this date are uncommon...
— Wayne Cocroft, From introduction to Report by English Heritage, ISSN 1749-8775[4]
The site was built and operated in secret, from the 1950s. Black Arrow was tested at the site, which was used to launch Prospero which was a wholly British project. Black Knight was also tested there.[5]
The development of rocketry was a part of the Cold War, in particular the development of Black Knight.[4]
The site is now under the ownership of the National Trust, who also own the neighbouring Needles Battery.