High Down Rocket Test Site

Black Arrow model

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.

Notes

  1. ↑ Hengistbury Head
  2. ↑ theneedlesbattery.org.uk
  3. ↑ spaceuk.org
  4. 1 2 Report by English Heritage
  5. ↑ National Trust Archived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine.
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