Nabisco Shredded Wheat Factory
| Nabisco Shredded Wheat Factory | |
|---|---|
 The factory in 2007 | |
| Location | Welwyn Garden City |
| OS grid reference | TL2414812975 |
| Built | 1925 |
| Original use | Production of Shredded Wheat |
| Architect | Louis de Soissons |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Designated | 16 January 1981 |
| Reference no. | 1101084 |
The Nabisco Shredded Wheat Factory is a defunct factory which originally produced variants of Shredded Wheat breakfast cereal in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. It was designed by architect Louis de Soissons who wanted to encourage companies to set up operations in garden cities. The design and ideals of the Welwyn Garden factory were inspired by an existing one in Niagara Falls, United States, also operated by the Shredded Wheat Company of America. Two buildings were functional at the time of its opening, an southern grain silo complex with 18 units and a western three–storey production area. Further expansions to the factory took place in the 1930s and 1950s with the addition of 27 silos, a new production area and office space.
The factory is considered to be a local landmark, with its image used heavily in marketing for Shredded Wheat to portray the cereal as more healthy and hygienic compared to alternatives. Some buildings on the site were granted Grade II heritage status by Historic England on 16 January 1981. Since its closure in 2008, there have been proposals to redevelop the factory as a brownfield site for residential and commercial purposes. Parts of the factory have been demolished in preparation for anticipated construction work, including the newer 1930s silos.
Background[edit]
The factory was designed by architect Louis de Soissons,[1] who was behind the construction of Welwyn Garden City as his second attempt at developing his concept of the garden city.[2] As a garden city, de Soissons wanted Welwyn Garden to have both residential and industrial areas to prevent it from becoming a commuter town. Advertisments were distributed in national media to invite manufacturers to take up residence in Welwyn Garden. The eastern section of the town was assigned as its industrial district with multiple factories, including the Shredded Wheat factory, taking residence on Broadwater Road.[2]
Shredded Wheat breakfast cereals were originally produced in the United States.[3] The Shredded Wheat Company of America first arrived in the United Kingdom in 1908 with offices in Aldwych, London[2] and began exports to the country later that year.[3] There was enough demand for the cereal within the UK to warrant the construction of a British factory.[3] The company was attracted to the Welwyn Garden site due to its proximity to London, good access to railway lines and a minimal amount of pollution.[2]
Design and Construction[edit]
The factory was designed by de Soissons in March–July 1924.[2] Inspiration for the Welwyn Garden factory's architecture was taken from the Shredded Wheat Company's Niagara Falls factory, limiting his influence in the design.[4] Regardless, de Soissons was still responsible for the designs of the boiler house, garage and wheat elevators. Construction began in May 1924, but an application for planning permission was only submitted in July. The modern architecture of the factory buildings was in contrast to the georgian that de Soissons had used for the rest of Welwyn Garden.[2]
The factory consists of two main concrete structures supported by steel reinforcements,[4] one to the south of the site and the other to the west.[1] The southern building housed the factory's grain silos.[1] At the time of the factory's opening there were eighteen silos in three rows of six, which were able to hold 5,700 tons of grain.[2] The silos were over 100 feet tall,[2] covered by an "attic storey" and built alongside a small tower.[1] The western building is a three–storey structure which was used as a production hall.[1][2] Its multi-storey design incorporated reinforced columns to create large amounts of floor and ceiling space and support a planned extension of the building by two additional stories that was ultimately not pursued.[4] Furthermore, it allowed for the installation of a large number of windows on the outside walls[1] that led to heat and light problems during the building's tenure.[4] The silos were built by Peter Lind & Company Ltd. of London and the other buildings by Messrs. F.P. Henderson, Ltd.[2]
Further developments took place in 1930s and 1950s. The 1937-39 expansion attempted to maintain the visually–appealing elements of the original factory's design,[5] involving the construction of a single–storey production hall and 27 additional silos[6] bringing the total number to 45.[7] Expansions in the 1950s disregarded attempts at maintaining the original factory's aesthetics,[5] with the development of office space[6] and an extension of the factory floor[8] at the cost of workers' recreational space.[2] Parts of the factory were granted Grade II heritage status by Historic England on 16 January 1981.[1]
Operational History[edit]
Production began in 1926.[2] Operations were powered by electricity from the national grid and gas from local gasworks.[9] Grain was stored in silos and transported through the factory using the vertical wheat elevators.[9] It was washed and passed through a pressure cooker under gravity, then shredded with rollers. The shredded grain was moulded into the required shape and finally baked in ovens to produce the final product.[3]
Manufacturing was expanded to other shredded wheat products throughout the factory's tenure, such "Small Shredded Wheat" in 1939 and Shreddies in 1953. Products which were not variants of shredded wheat were later introduced including cake mixes in 1955 and Ritz crackers in 1961. This led to a reorganisation of the factory floor from its original "U-shape" to more a more complex line structure. Despite good sales, some of the newer products including Golden Nuggets were discontinued due to high production costs and an incompatibility with the new line format.[8]
Originally, the factory employed sixteen workers on three separate packing lines to manually place the cereal in packets. The workers were assisted by electric conveyor belts. In 1960, the packing and quality control process was automated by machinery. This reduced the number of workers involved in packing to six.[10]
Cultural History[edit]
Shredded wheat cereals were promoted in the UK as a healthy breakfast option produced in a hygienic environment, and the factory's aesthetic was an important part of the marketing campaign. This was achieved through the inclusion of whitewashed concrete and ceramic tiles in the exterior design, as well as its location in a garden city with little pollution. The welfare of the factory workers was also publicized, with recreational facilities such as football pitches and showers available upon opening.[5] These details were advertised on cereal packets produced in the factory until 1960[5] and delivery vans.[2]
Tourists were invited to visit the factory, nicknamed "The Wheat",[11] in further support of marketing on the factory's cleanliness.[5] Tickets to Welwyn Garden could be purchased from King's Cross station in London so they could view the production facilities.[11] Elements of the factory remain visible to trains travelling the East Coast Main Line.[2]
The Shredded Wheat Company of America was acquired by the National Biscuit Company in 1928, later abbreviated to Nabisco.[2] Nabisco was an important local employer during the factory's tenure, with many locals working in or knowing people who were employed by the factory.[2][11][12] The site was closed in 2008[11][13] by its owner Cereal Partners in an attempt to reduce manufacturing costs by consolidating production lines. Production was moved to another site in Staverton, Wiltshire, with 370 jobs lost in the move.[12] The factory is considered to be a local landmark,[11][13] and was the entry for 1926 in the Twentieth Century Society's 100 Buildings 100 Years.[14]
Redevelopment[edit]
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There have been various attempts at redevelopment of the site. It was first sold in 2008 to Spenhill,[15] who initially attempted to build a Tesco superstore. The plans included a controversial demolition of all the factory's silos, and planning permission was eventually refused in 2012.[13] The firm later gainer permission for a mixed–use development in 2017 which included the construction of up to 850 homes, development of urban green spaces, and the restoration and conversion of the 18 original silos into commercial buildings.[2][13] Demolition of the newer 1930s silos took place on 17 January 2018 in preparation for future construction work.[2][7]
The current scheme for redevelopment is the "Wheat Quarter". Proposals in the January 2021 planning application included the building of 1,220 apartments on the factory site, an increase from the 811 approved previously.[16] Critics of the development noted that the ten-storey apartment blocks were significantly larger than a previously enforced five-storey cap, so they would overshadow the existing buildings in Welwyn Garden's town centre. The Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust argued that the remaining silos were important to the town's heritage and would be hidden by the new plans.[11] In January 2024 the eleven-acre northern part of the development was bought by Malaysian firm IJM Corporation.[17] The sale included planning permission for 811 apartments and the renovation of listed factory buildings for non-residential purposes.[18]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g "THE NABISCO SHREDDED WHEAT FACTORY, Non Civil Parish - 1101084 | Historic England". Historic England. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Collins, Nick (April 2018). "3". Former Nabisco Shredded Wheat Factory (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d Butterfield, Richard (1999). Goodman, David (ed.). The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-industrial City. Psychology Press. p. 126. ISBN 9780415200820.
- ^ a b c d Butterfield, Richard (1999). Goodman, David (ed.). The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-industrial City. Psychology Press. pp. 134–135. ISBN 9780415200820.
- ^ a b c d e Butterfield, Richard (1999). Goodman, David (ed.). The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-industrial City. Psychology Press. pp. 135–137. ISBN 9780415200820.
- ^ a b Collins, Nick (April 2018). "2". Former Nabisco Shredded Wheat Factory (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ a b Morgan, Nina (18 January 2018). "Farewell to Shredded Wheat silos: Pictures of demolition work". Welwyn Hatfield Times. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ a b Butterfield, Richard (1999). Goodman, David (ed.). The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-industrial City. Psychology Press. pp. 130–133. ISBN 9780415200820.
- ^ a b Butterfield, Richard (1999). Goodman, David (ed.). The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-industrial City. Psychology Press. p. 129. ISBN 9780415200820.
- ^ Butterfield, Richard (1999). Goodman, David (ed.). The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-industrial City. Psychology Press. p. 128. ISBN 9780415200820.
- ^ a b c d e f Smith, Matthew (1 July 2021). "Welwyn Garden City's Shredded Wheat silos: The historic disused factory that's dividing the town". Hertfordshire Mercury. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ a b "Factory shuts with 370 jobs lost". BBC News. 14 September 2005. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Alex (12 March 2017). "Vision for Welwyn Garden City's Shredded Wheat site unveiled". Welwyn Hatfield Times. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ Foskett, Ewan (26 February 2014). "Shredded Wheat factory is one of the top 100 buildings of 20th Century". Welwyn Hatfield Times. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ "Tesco buys Shredded Wheat site". Welwyn Hatfield Times. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ Kay, Jamie (17 June 2021). "1,200 flats could be built on old Shredded Wheat factory site in Welwyn Garden City". Hertfordshire Mercury. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ Moutney, Dan (5 January 2024). "Malaysian-based developer makes Wheat Quarter purchase". Welwyn Hatfield Times. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ Devan, Priya (12 January 2024). "IJM Land acquires land in UK for mixed-use development". The Edge Malaysia. Retrieved 19 May 2024.