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Gloster Aircraft Company - Bentham Works


January 2016

Bentham works was not used to mass produce aircraft; instead it was used to build and test prototypes. (Mass production took place at the companies nearby Hucclecote factory). Many famous planes have their origins at the Bentham Works, including the Meteor, the only Allied jet aircraft to see combat in WW2 which had it's first ground run at the site on the 29th of June 1942.

The prototypes for the Gloster Javelin, an "all weather interceptor aircraft", were not only built at the Bentham Works but also designed here too. The prototypes would then be taken by road to the companies aerodrome at Moreton Valence for testing. The Javelin was used by the RAF throughout the 50s and much of the 60s, and proved to be a very successful aircraft.

In February 1940 Gloster Aircraft Company was selected to design the aircraft to be powered by the W.1 Engine; the E.28/39, the very first Frank Whittle based jet aircraft. The aircraft was also known as the Pioneer, as it was the very first British jet engined aircraft to fly; again showing how important this site is in British aviation history.

Gloster Aircraft Company became defunct in 1963 however, and since then the site has been used by Wilmot Breeden and later welding firm Bentham International. BI specialised in pipework, particuarly for the petro-chemical industry. The site also once housed the largest brake press in Europe. The site currently offers storage; however it doesn't appear to be utilised as such. 

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  • Home
  • Asylums & Hospitals
    • Barrow Gurney Hospital
    • Brecon and Radnor Asylum - Talgarth
    • Cane Hill Asylum
    • Frenchay Hospital
    • Frenchay Hospital Mortuary
    • High Royds Asylum
    • Severalls Mental Hospital
    • Standish Hospital
    • St Cadoc's Hospital
    • St Clements Psychiatric Hospital - East London
    • Vagrant Cells - Melton Mowbray
  • High Stuff
    • Aldgate Tower Crane - London
    • Bayscape Tower Crane - Cardiff
    • Canons Marsh Crane - Bristol
    • Froomsgate House - Bristol
    • Newport Transporter Bridge
    • No. 3 Gasometer - Bath
    • No. 7 Gas Holder - Battersea
    • Simplyhealth Offices Crane - Bristol
    • Tees Transporter Bridge
    • The Forth Bridge
    • Warrington Transporter Bridge
  • Industrial
    • A Bond Tobacco Warehouse
    • Battersea Power Station
    • Celuan Wool Mill - Talybont
    • Coryton Refinery Power Station
    • CWM Coke Works
    • Ford Grain Silo - Avonmouth
    • Gloster Aircraft Company - Bentham Works
    • Granary No. 5 - Avonmouth
    • Healings Mill - Tewkesbury
    • Intier Automotive - Bristol
    • Lafarge Cement Works - Westbury
    • Leri Tweed Mill - Talybont
    • Longfords Mill - Stroud
    • Lostock Power Station
    • Mckechnie Brass - Aldridge
    • Morlands Tannery - Glastonbury
    • NGTE Pyestock
    • NT Frost Electroplating
    • Penallta Colliery
    • Pine End Works
    • Sharpness Grain Silo
    • Spillers Millennium Mills
    • Spillers Silo - Avonmouth
    • Spondon H Power Station
    • Tone Mills
    • Tower Colliery
    • Vencel Resil
    • Wansbrough Paper Mill
    • Welton Bibby and Baron - Midsomer Norton
  • Leisure
    • Birmingham Central Library
    • Bristol Ice Rink
    • Bristol North Baths
    • Odeon Cinema - Portsmouth
    • Oriental City
    • The Broadway Cinema - Bristol
    • The Palladium Cinema - Midsomer Norton
  • Military
    • Avro Shackleton MR3
    • Bletchley Park - G Block
    • Farleigh Down Tunnel
    • Hallen ROC Post
    • RAF Greenham Common (GAMA)
    • Royal Military Academy Woolwich
    • Wentworth D-Day Control Bunker
  • Underground
    • Bethel Quarry
    • Coulsdon Deep Shelter
    • Dreadnaught (Malago Stormwater Interceptor)
    • Finsbury Park Reservoir
    • Kingsway Telephone Exchange
    • Oslo Nuclear Fallout Shelters
  • Other
    • Abandoned Farmhouse - Bristol
    • Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
    • Coal Exchange - Cardiff
    • Crookham Court Manor/School
    • Farnham Police Station
    • Hampton House
    • Home Farm & Farmhouse
    • Ingelbourne Manor - Malmesbury
    • Lloyds Bank - Bristol
    • New Bridewell Police Station
    • North Leamington High School
    • Prinknash Abbey
    • Salston Manor Hotel
    • Silverlands Orphanage
    • St Joseph's Missionary College
    • St Michael on the Mount Without Church
    • The Abbey School Tewkesbury
    • The Hobbit House
  • Links