 Chilwell
St George Army Chapel
History
The Chilwell Ordnance Depot site originated in 1915 with the opening of a national shell filling factory at a time when there was a shortage of shells needed on the First World War battlefield. It became famous, or infamous, when in 1918 an explosion on the site killed 134 people. A memorial to those who died was subsequently erected on the site.
After the First World War the site became a Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) storage depot, and it was subsequently known as Chilwell Ordnance Depot. Families who lived on the site were encouraged to attend church worship at Attenborough St Mary, but as barracks were built and it gradually became a residential as well as a military training area, the decision was taken to provide a small church which would serve the site.
Services had been held on the Garrison site previous to the church being built in 1953, but the building was commissioned by Major General Sir G.A.N. Swiney, KBE, CB, MC, who was Commander of Chilwell at the time.
It is an unassuming brick building of no particular architectural merit, which is maintained by the army.
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