Admiralty Gunnery Establishment
The Admiralty Gunnery Establishment was an Admiralty research establishment, built in 1949-54 at Barrow Hill, near Southwell. The establishment opened in 1954 and closed in 1959, when the site became the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment. Following its closure in 1996, the establishment became the Southwell Business Park in 1997, which today includes the Atlantic Academy campus and Admiralty Hotel & Restaurant.
History
Construction of and use as the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (1949-59)
Portland Harbour has a long association with Admiralty-based research and development. Torpedo trials had been taking place at Portland since around 1878, while Robert Whitehead's torpedo factory at Wyke Regis, which opened in 1891, used a purpose-built pier in Portland Harbour for testing and development work. Later in 1902, the Admiralty established a short range for torpedoes near Bincleaves, along with a long range one in 1917.
With the rising new threat of the submarine and effectiveness of U-boats in World War I, research and development into underwater detection and anti-submarine weapons became of great importance to the Admiralty from the early 20th century. The first A/S operations to take place at Portland was in 1917, when the introduction of the hydrophone resulted in the approval of a listening school and experimental station at Portland to train personnel in the use of A/S equipment and carry out trial work. The anti-submarine establishment was commissioned as HMS Sarepta in 1917 and went on to become HMS Osprey in 1924. After relocating to Scotland during World War II, HMS Osprey returned to Portland in 1946 along with the HM Anti-Submarine Experimental Establishment, which became known as HM Underwater Detection Establishment from 1947.
With the end of World War II, the Admiralty's broad range of research establishments underwent a major reorganisation in the attempt to rationalise and concentrate the various fields of naval research. This included carrying out plans made during wartime to build new and improved facilities for the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (AGE), which was based at Teddington, Middlesex, but required larger facilities and a more suitable location on the coast.
Even prior to World War II, it was noted that the existing facilities at Teddington were "not sufficient" and some of its work had to be outsourced. With the wartime introduction of long-range projectiles, guided missiles and the use of radar in gun laying, the need for a new home became paramount. The Admiralty were concerned that Britain's research and development on gunnery and fire control was inadequate to "such an extent that we have been dependent on the United States for certain important equipment". It was decided that building a new complex would both provide sufficient facilities and allow all the work of the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment to be centralised.
The Admiralty's "exhaustive investigation" of numerous sites across the country resulted in Portland being selected, specifically land at Barrow Hill near Southwell. Detailed plans for the proposed establishment were drawn up by late 1945, but the scheme was initially met with opposition from other organisations. The Air Ministry raised concerns as they believed the proposed firing range for the establishment would interfere with the existing RAF ranges in Lyme Bay, while local fishermen feared they would no longer be able to fish in the area. Furthermore, the proposed site of the establishment was partly occupied by a heavy anti-aircraft battery which had been operating during the war. Although they later agreed to relinquish the site, the War Office had selected the battery as part of their post-war Nuclear Force programme, under which it was to be rearmed for the protection of Portland Harbour and also used for training purposes.
The plans for the new establishment were drawn up by the Admiralty's civil engineer-in-chief, who opted for a steel-framed complex of reinforced concrete and internal brick facings, with Portland stone used externally. The building contract was awarded to Messrs Staverton Builders Ltd (of Staverton, near Totnes), while supervision over the construction was provided by Portland's superintending civil engineer. Work on the complex began in 1949 and shortly into the excavation for its foundations, pre-Roman and Roman artefacts were discovered. Costing over £1 million to build, the complex was completed in 1954, and the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment transferred to Portland from the Admiralty Research Laboratory at Teddington in March 1954.
The new establishment was responsible for the research, design and development of both the Royal Navy and Army's gunnery equipment, including guided weapons, guns and torpedoes. Work concentrated on fire control, remote power control, stabilisation, optic work and certain aspects of gun mountings. The complex was equipped with many laboratories, workshops, offices, storerooms and staff amenities. The wide range of laboratories within the complex included heavy gun, light gun, hydraulics, electrical, mechanical, optics and range-finding, radar application, chemical and metallurgical, and photographic laboratories, as well as a temperature controlled room. One part of the complex facing seawards contained the firing range section, which had a large opening, allowing guns to be test fired across Lyme Bay. Furthermore, the establishment's position near HM Naval Base Portland allowed ships to participate in trial work.
Creation of the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (1959)
As the Cold War developed, a further reorganisation and rationalisation of Admiralty research was carried out under the direction of Lord Mountbatten's "Way Ahead" committee, formed in 1955. The Admiralty decided that Portland would become the home of all scientific research into underwater weapons, and underwater detection and control systems. In 1959, the Gunnery Establishment was transferred to Portsdown Hill in Portsmouth, where it was amalgamated into the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment. The Portland site then became the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) from 17 March 1959. Three institutions were merged into the establishment over the following months; the Underwater Countermeasures and Weapons Establishment at Havant, the Torpedo Experimental Establishment at Greenock and the Underwater Launching Establishment at Bournemouth.
In 1960, HM Underwater Detection Establishment within HM Naval Base Portland was incorporated into the AUWE and from 1 October, the two Portland sites operated as a single unit; the former Gunnery Establishment became AUWE (South) and the Underwater Detection Establishment became AUWE (North). While AUWE(N) focused on underwater detection systems, namely sonar, AUWE(S) was responsible for the design, development and trialling of underwater weapons, such as torpedoes and mines. Other associated work undertaken at the establishment included the development of fire control for such weapons, launching and handling equipment, as well as mine and torpedo countermeasures such as mine hunting and sweeping. The establishment's development of new equipment would span from the experimental stage to prototype manufacturing.
In 1959, a third site, known as AUWE(B) and located in Weymouth, took over the former RN Torpedo Depot at Bincleaves (Weymouth) and provided further test facilities for torpedo and mining work. In addition to the local facilities at its disposal, the AUWE also operated a number of outstations for trial work, which included sites in Cornwall, Somerset, Hampshire and Scotland.
Portland Spy Ring (1961)
Portland, as the location of highly classified research, quickly gained the interest of the Soviet Union, which emerged in 1961 with the discovery of the Portland Spy Ring. Although the infiltration largely concerned AUWE(N), both AUWE establishments received international attention as a result and security was then significantly tightened at both sites (and other Admiralty sites across the UK). The ring remains one of the most famous examples of espionage infiltration and its activities were believed by the Admiralty to have accelerated the development of the Soviet Union's next class of submarine.
The ring had been operating since the early 1950s, until the core of the network was arrested by Special Branch in London in 1961. Of the five arrests made, two were local residents and lovers Harry Houghton and Ethel Gee. Houghton worked as a clerk at the UDE from 1952 until 1957, when he became a clerk of Portland's Port Auxiliary Repair Unit, while Gee had been a clerk at the UDE since 1950. The pair exchanged classified material for money and would make regular trips to London in 1960 to hand the information over to Soviet intelligence officer Konon Molody, who was living illegally in Britain under the false identity of Gordon Lonsdale. He would send the information to the USSR using a bungalow in Ruislip, owned by the KGB spies Morris and Lona Cohen, who were living in Britain under the names Peter and Helen Kroger.
According to Houghton's autobiography, Lonsdale took great interest in the establishment at Southwell but was unable to convince Houghton in 1960 to attempt finding an employee who would be willing to get involved in the spy ring: "Right away Gordon talked about enlisting someone from there into our group. I utterly refused to make any approaches to anyone. He did his best to persuade me, but I got round it in the end by saying that there was no-one I knew well enough in the place."
Late 20th century operations
During the 1970s, expansion work at AUWE(S) saw a new wing added for the purpose of carrying out torpedo-based research. It was opened by Prince Philip on 6 June 1978.
On 1 April 1984, the two AUWE establishments on Portland became part of the Admiralty Research Agency (ARE) as part of a major reorganisation of the various Admiralty research and development establishments across the country. Another reorganisation came in April 1991 with the establishments becoming part of the Defence Research Agency (DRA), which in turn formed a division of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) from April 1995. Despite the successive changes, the research and development work at Portland's two establishments remained committed to underwater warfare as before.
Closure of the establishment (1995-96)
HMNB Portland and the island's research establishments continued to operate into the late 20th century. However, with the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a reduction of the UK's existing defence budget saw the closure of HMNB Portland confirmed in November 1992 and FOST operations ceased in July 1995. Meanwhile, in September 1992, the DRA announced their own rationalisation plans in the effort to save £90 million per year in operating costs, which included the proposed closure of the Portland "North" and "South" establishments, among others in the UK. In 1993, the DRA received planning permission to establish new facilities (namely offices, laboratories and workshops) at the Winfrith Technology Centre, near Winfrith Newburgh, where much of Portland's research was to be transferred to.
Portland's "North" and "South" establishments were vacated by DERA staff in mid-1995 and DERA Winfrith opened on 22 September. The "South" establishment was then renamed MOD(PE) Southwell, where it primarily housed staff from Portland's branch of the Procurement Executive, which was the MOD organisation responsible for the acquisition of equipment for the British Armed Forces. The PE vacated Portland in August 1996 as part of a nationwide cost saving scheme, which saw all 7,000 PE staff across the UK unified at new facilities at Abbey Wood near Bristol.
The last of the MOD staff remaining at the "South" site left during the autumn, with those of Naval Support Command (NSC) moving temporarily to Egdon Hall in Weymouth before they also relocated to Abbey Wood in 1997. The combined closure of the naval facilities and research establishments at Portland, including RNAS Portland in 1999, was estimated by the borough council to have cost the area 4,500 jobs, with a loss of £40 million to the local economy. Only a few facilities in the borough were retained by the DERA, including the establishments at Bincleaves and Portland Bill.
Transformation into Southwell Business Park (1997-)
After the closure of the DERA Southwell establishment, the complex was left with an uncertain future. The forty acre site had 350,000 square feet of buildings, along with facilities and equipment left behind such as large compression tanks and underwater acoustic tanks. The Ministry of Defence had attempted to sell the site since 1995, but it received little interest for over a year, prompting them to begin developing plans to have the complex demolished, with possible building or mineral extraction afterwards.
However, in 1997, the site was sold to Roy Haywood and Ray Bulpit, who specialised in the acquisition and development of former military sites. With plans to transform the site into Southwell Business Park, the new owners decided to adapt the buildings as necessary and keep new building work to a minimum. One of the earliest developments post-1995 was the erection of a dog kennel complex. In 1997, the new owners, as First Portland Limited, were granted planning permission to change the use of Maritime House to Class B1 (business use), and in 1998 they were given permission to change the use of the overall site to B2 (general industrial use).
Tenants were soon sought and the Southwell Business Park quickly became a successful industrial site, with a wide array of businesses moving to the park. The site continued to develop into the 21st century, providing employment for almost 500 people and a home for over 100 businesses, ranging from professional services, research and development, design and publishing, manufacturing and light engineering. By 2005, most of the space available to tenants had been let, but part of the complex, including the 1970s wing, remained empty. Plans were made for the development of a spa suite, conference centre, restaurant and hotel. The £10 million project saw the opening of the Portland Spa Conference and Banqueting Centre in 2007 and the Portland Spa Hotel in 2008.
Due to the economic recession, the new facilities were not a commercial success and the hotel went into administration in 2009, followed by the park's owners in 2010. The site was sold to Compass Point Estates and a new company, Portland (Weymouth) Ltd, was formed to take over the running of the park and hotel. After a number of name and ownership changes, the hotel is currently known as the Admiralty Hotel & Restaurant. In 2012, plans were developed by the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy to form a £14 million campus at the park. Although planning permission was refused by Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, the decision was overturned on appeal. Following transformation of part of Maritime House, the campus opened in September 2016.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Bournemouth Echo - MI5 man broke island spy ring - Ian McDonald - January 2008 - website page
2) Dorset Echo - numerous articles from the online archive from 2000 to 2018 - website page
3) Dorset for You - Weymouth & Portland Borough Council - various planning applications on online archive - website page
4) Dorset Life - The Dorset Magazine - A Portland Success Story - John Newth - website page
5) Dorset Magazine - The Spy Next Door - People - Dorset - January 2011 - website page
6) Exploring Portland - Southwell Business Park Area - Geoff Kirby - website page
7) Hansard 1803-2005 - numerous parliamentary debates in Hansard archive - website page
8) Jurassic Agent - The Jurassic Coast: Portland Spies - website page
9) Jurassic Agent - The Jurassic Coast: Underwater Research - website page
10) Minewarfare and Diving Magazine - Volume 6, Number 2 - Mo(o)re news from Southwell - Lt. Cdr Rob Hoole - November 1995 - article
11) Minewarfare and Diving Magazine - Volume 7, Number 1 - Southwell update - Lt. Cdr Rob Hoole - July 1996 - article
12) Operation Portland: The Autobiography of a Spy - Harry Houghton - Rupert Hart-Davis - 1972 - ISBN: 978-0246105486 - page 73 - book
13) Portland Encyclopaedia - Rodney Legg - Dorset Publishing Company - 1999 - ISBN: 978-0948699566 - page 5 - book
14) Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage - Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen - Greenhill Books - 1997 - ISBN: 978-1853672781 - book
15) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
16) The National Archives - Admiralty and Ministry of Defence: Underwater Weapons Establishment, later Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment: Reports and Technical Notes - website page
17) The National Archives - Admiralty: Admiralty Gunnery Establishment: Reports and Papers - website page
18) The National Archives - An introduction to the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment, Portland - declassified document - 1964 - website page
History
Construction of and use as the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (1949-59)
Portland Harbour has a long association with Admiralty-based research and development. Torpedo trials had been taking place at Portland since around 1878, while Robert Whitehead's torpedo factory at Wyke Regis, which opened in 1891, used a purpose-built pier in Portland Harbour for testing and development work. Later in 1902, the Admiralty established a short range for torpedoes near Bincleaves, along with a long range one in 1917.
With the rising new threat of the submarine and effectiveness of U-boats in World War I, research and development into underwater detection and anti-submarine weapons became of great importance to the Admiralty from the early 20th century. The first A/S operations to take place at Portland was in 1917, when the introduction of the hydrophone resulted in the approval of a listening school and experimental station at Portland to train personnel in the use of A/S equipment and carry out trial work. The anti-submarine establishment was commissioned as HMS Sarepta in 1917 and went on to become HMS Osprey in 1924. After relocating to Scotland during World War II, HMS Osprey returned to Portland in 1946 along with the HM Anti-Submarine Experimental Establishment, which became known as HM Underwater Detection Establishment from 1947.
With the end of World War II, the Admiralty's broad range of research establishments underwent a major reorganisation in the attempt to rationalise and concentrate the various fields of naval research. This included carrying out plans made during wartime to build new and improved facilities for the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (AGE), which was based at Teddington, Middlesex, but required larger facilities and a more suitable location on the coast.
Even prior to World War II, it was noted that the existing facilities at Teddington were "not sufficient" and some of its work had to be outsourced. With the wartime introduction of long-range projectiles, guided missiles and the use of radar in gun laying, the need for a new home became paramount. The Admiralty were concerned that Britain's research and development on gunnery and fire control was inadequate to "such an extent that we have been dependent on the United States for certain important equipment". It was decided that building a new complex would both provide sufficient facilities and allow all the work of the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment to be centralised.
The Admiralty's "exhaustive investigation" of numerous sites across the country resulted in Portland being selected, specifically land at Barrow Hill near Southwell. Detailed plans for the proposed establishment were drawn up by late 1945, but the scheme was initially met with opposition from other organisations. The Air Ministry raised concerns as they believed the proposed firing range for the establishment would interfere with the existing RAF ranges in Lyme Bay, while local fishermen feared they would no longer be able to fish in the area. Furthermore, the proposed site of the establishment was partly occupied by a heavy anti-aircraft battery which had been operating during the war. Although they later agreed to relinquish the site, the War Office had selected the battery as part of their post-war Nuclear Force programme, under which it was to be rearmed for the protection of Portland Harbour and also used for training purposes.
The plans for the new establishment were drawn up by the Admiralty's civil engineer-in-chief, who opted for a steel-framed complex of reinforced concrete and internal brick facings, with Portland stone used externally. The building contract was awarded to Messrs Staverton Builders Ltd (of Staverton, near Totnes), while supervision over the construction was provided by Portland's superintending civil engineer. Work on the complex began in 1949 and shortly into the excavation for its foundations, pre-Roman and Roman artefacts were discovered. Costing over £1 million to build, the complex was completed in 1954, and the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment transferred to Portland from the Admiralty Research Laboratory at Teddington in March 1954.
The new establishment was responsible for the research, design and development of both the Royal Navy and Army's gunnery equipment, including guided weapons, guns and torpedoes. Work concentrated on fire control, remote power control, stabilisation, optic work and certain aspects of gun mountings. The complex was equipped with many laboratories, workshops, offices, storerooms and staff amenities. The wide range of laboratories within the complex included heavy gun, light gun, hydraulics, electrical, mechanical, optics and range-finding, radar application, chemical and metallurgical, and photographic laboratories, as well as a temperature controlled room. One part of the complex facing seawards contained the firing range section, which had a large opening, allowing guns to be test fired across Lyme Bay. Furthermore, the establishment's position near HM Naval Base Portland allowed ships to participate in trial work.
Creation of the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (1959)
As the Cold War developed, a further reorganisation and rationalisation of Admiralty research was carried out under the direction of Lord Mountbatten's "Way Ahead" committee, formed in 1955. The Admiralty decided that Portland would become the home of all scientific research into underwater weapons, and underwater detection and control systems. In 1959, the Gunnery Establishment was transferred to Portsdown Hill in Portsmouth, where it was amalgamated into the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment. The Portland site then became the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) from 17 March 1959. Three institutions were merged into the establishment over the following months; the Underwater Countermeasures and Weapons Establishment at Havant, the Torpedo Experimental Establishment at Greenock and the Underwater Launching Establishment at Bournemouth.
In 1960, HM Underwater Detection Establishment within HM Naval Base Portland was incorporated into the AUWE and from 1 October, the two Portland sites operated as a single unit; the former Gunnery Establishment became AUWE (South) and the Underwater Detection Establishment became AUWE (North). While AUWE(N) focused on underwater detection systems, namely sonar, AUWE(S) was responsible for the design, development and trialling of underwater weapons, such as torpedoes and mines. Other associated work undertaken at the establishment included the development of fire control for such weapons, launching and handling equipment, as well as mine and torpedo countermeasures such as mine hunting and sweeping. The establishment's development of new equipment would span from the experimental stage to prototype manufacturing.
In 1959, a third site, known as AUWE(B) and located in Weymouth, took over the former RN Torpedo Depot at Bincleaves (Weymouth) and provided further test facilities for torpedo and mining work. In addition to the local facilities at its disposal, the AUWE also operated a number of outstations for trial work, which included sites in Cornwall, Somerset, Hampshire and Scotland.
Portland Spy Ring (1961)
Portland, as the location of highly classified research, quickly gained the interest of the Soviet Union, which emerged in 1961 with the discovery of the Portland Spy Ring. Although the infiltration largely concerned AUWE(N), both AUWE establishments received international attention as a result and security was then significantly tightened at both sites (and other Admiralty sites across the UK). The ring remains one of the most famous examples of espionage infiltration and its activities were believed by the Admiralty to have accelerated the development of the Soviet Union's next class of submarine.
The ring had been operating since the early 1950s, until the core of the network was arrested by Special Branch in London in 1961. Of the five arrests made, two were local residents and lovers Harry Houghton and Ethel Gee. Houghton worked as a clerk at the UDE from 1952 until 1957, when he became a clerk of Portland's Port Auxiliary Repair Unit, while Gee had been a clerk at the UDE since 1950. The pair exchanged classified material for money and would make regular trips to London in 1960 to hand the information over to Soviet intelligence officer Konon Molody, who was living illegally in Britain under the false identity of Gordon Lonsdale. He would send the information to the USSR using a bungalow in Ruislip, owned by the KGB spies Morris and Lona Cohen, who were living in Britain under the names Peter and Helen Kroger.
According to Houghton's autobiography, Lonsdale took great interest in the establishment at Southwell but was unable to convince Houghton in 1960 to attempt finding an employee who would be willing to get involved in the spy ring: "Right away Gordon talked about enlisting someone from there into our group. I utterly refused to make any approaches to anyone. He did his best to persuade me, but I got round it in the end by saying that there was no-one I knew well enough in the place."
Late 20th century operations
During the 1970s, expansion work at AUWE(S) saw a new wing added for the purpose of carrying out torpedo-based research. It was opened by Prince Philip on 6 June 1978.
On 1 April 1984, the two AUWE establishments on Portland became part of the Admiralty Research Agency (ARE) as part of a major reorganisation of the various Admiralty research and development establishments across the country. Another reorganisation came in April 1991 with the establishments becoming part of the Defence Research Agency (DRA), which in turn formed a division of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) from April 1995. Despite the successive changes, the research and development work at Portland's two establishments remained committed to underwater warfare as before.
Closure of the establishment (1995-96)
HMNB Portland and the island's research establishments continued to operate into the late 20th century. However, with the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a reduction of the UK's existing defence budget saw the closure of HMNB Portland confirmed in November 1992 and FOST operations ceased in July 1995. Meanwhile, in September 1992, the DRA announced their own rationalisation plans in the effort to save £90 million per year in operating costs, which included the proposed closure of the Portland "North" and "South" establishments, among others in the UK. In 1993, the DRA received planning permission to establish new facilities (namely offices, laboratories and workshops) at the Winfrith Technology Centre, near Winfrith Newburgh, where much of Portland's research was to be transferred to.
Portland's "North" and "South" establishments were vacated by DERA staff in mid-1995 and DERA Winfrith opened on 22 September. The "South" establishment was then renamed MOD(PE) Southwell, where it primarily housed staff from Portland's branch of the Procurement Executive, which was the MOD organisation responsible for the acquisition of equipment for the British Armed Forces. The PE vacated Portland in August 1996 as part of a nationwide cost saving scheme, which saw all 7,000 PE staff across the UK unified at new facilities at Abbey Wood near Bristol.
The last of the MOD staff remaining at the "South" site left during the autumn, with those of Naval Support Command (NSC) moving temporarily to Egdon Hall in Weymouth before they also relocated to Abbey Wood in 1997. The combined closure of the naval facilities and research establishments at Portland, including RNAS Portland in 1999, was estimated by the borough council to have cost the area 4,500 jobs, with a loss of £40 million to the local economy. Only a few facilities in the borough were retained by the DERA, including the establishments at Bincleaves and Portland Bill.
Transformation into Southwell Business Park (1997-)
After the closure of the DERA Southwell establishment, the complex was left with an uncertain future. The forty acre site had 350,000 square feet of buildings, along with facilities and equipment left behind such as large compression tanks and underwater acoustic tanks. The Ministry of Defence had attempted to sell the site since 1995, but it received little interest for over a year, prompting them to begin developing plans to have the complex demolished, with possible building or mineral extraction afterwards.
However, in 1997, the site was sold to Roy Haywood and Ray Bulpit, who specialised in the acquisition and development of former military sites. With plans to transform the site into Southwell Business Park, the new owners decided to adapt the buildings as necessary and keep new building work to a minimum. One of the earliest developments post-1995 was the erection of a dog kennel complex. In 1997, the new owners, as First Portland Limited, were granted planning permission to change the use of Maritime House to Class B1 (business use), and in 1998 they were given permission to change the use of the overall site to B2 (general industrial use).
Tenants were soon sought and the Southwell Business Park quickly became a successful industrial site, with a wide array of businesses moving to the park. The site continued to develop into the 21st century, providing employment for almost 500 people and a home for over 100 businesses, ranging from professional services, research and development, design and publishing, manufacturing and light engineering. By 2005, most of the space available to tenants had been let, but part of the complex, including the 1970s wing, remained empty. Plans were made for the development of a spa suite, conference centre, restaurant and hotel. The £10 million project saw the opening of the Portland Spa Conference and Banqueting Centre in 2007 and the Portland Spa Hotel in 2008.
Due to the economic recession, the new facilities were not a commercial success and the hotel went into administration in 2009, followed by the park's owners in 2010. The site was sold to Compass Point Estates and a new company, Portland (Weymouth) Ltd, was formed to take over the running of the park and hotel. After a number of name and ownership changes, the hotel is currently known as the Admiralty Hotel & Restaurant. In 2012, plans were developed by the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy to form a £14 million campus at the park. Although planning permission was refused by Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, the decision was overturned on appeal. Following transformation of part of Maritime House, the campus opened in September 2016.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Bournemouth Echo - MI5 man broke island spy ring - Ian McDonald - January 2008 - website page
2) Dorset Echo - numerous articles from the online archive from 2000 to 2018 - website page
3) Dorset for You - Weymouth & Portland Borough Council - various planning applications on online archive - website page
4) Dorset Life - The Dorset Magazine - A Portland Success Story - John Newth - website page
5) Dorset Magazine - The Spy Next Door - People - Dorset - January 2011 - website page
6) Exploring Portland - Southwell Business Park Area - Geoff Kirby - website page
7) Hansard 1803-2005 - numerous parliamentary debates in Hansard archive - website page
8) Jurassic Agent - The Jurassic Coast: Portland Spies - website page
9) Jurassic Agent - The Jurassic Coast: Underwater Research - website page
10) Minewarfare and Diving Magazine - Volume 6, Number 2 - Mo(o)re news from Southwell - Lt. Cdr Rob Hoole - November 1995 - article
11) Minewarfare and Diving Magazine - Volume 7, Number 1 - Southwell update - Lt. Cdr Rob Hoole - July 1996 - article
12) Operation Portland: The Autobiography of a Spy - Harry Houghton - Rupert Hart-Davis - 1972 - ISBN: 978-0246105486 - page 73 - book
13) Portland Encyclopaedia - Rodney Legg - Dorset Publishing Company - 1999 - ISBN: 978-0948699566 - page 5 - book
14) Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage - Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen - Greenhill Books - 1997 - ISBN: 978-1853672781 - book
15) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
16) The National Archives - Admiralty and Ministry of Defence: Underwater Weapons Establishment, later Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment: Reports and Technical Notes - website page
17) The National Archives - Admiralty: Admiralty Gunnery Establishment: Reports and Papers - website page
18) The National Archives - An introduction to the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment, Portland - declassified document - 1964 - website page
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