History
Molins are a leading cigarette making machine manufacturer who built machines to manufacture and package cigarettes.
The site was originally developed for weapons manufacture during World War II but in 1950 Molins built their factory on the site, they owned and operated here from 1950 until 2008.
In 2005 the site was subdivided and let out as offices and for light industry accommodation but in 2007 one of the major tenants left the site and it subsequently went up for sale.
In 2008 the site was purchased by German internet data center company "e-Shelter" and planning permission was given for them to build a data center on the site. The data center was later deemed to be unnecessary and never went ahead.
2009 brought the demolition of the main factory, leaving two buildings standing today, totaling 2,500 meters square.
The site is now owned by English Residential Land Partnership, purchasing the site in 2014 for 7 million. There are now talks of the site being redeveloped but the residents in the area refused the plans for the 212 houses that were proposed.
There is now a skate park built inside the larger building that remains- I couldn't find any history of this being professionally built or purpose built, despite the park being incredibly well constructed and covered in Vans and Salad Days logos.
The Explore
Now for the best bit!
This was my first proper explore having been to a few more places before this with no luck with access, I went with my boyfriend who has been Urbexing for ages and has recently given me incentive to actually go out and explore.
The main reason of us going to explore this site was to see the skate park inside and actually skate in there.
We arrived at around 4pm and the sky was quite cloudy which made for some really pretty external pictures! Access appeared to be easy at first but upon further exploring, the place is absolutely covered in anti-climb/vandal paint! We accessed both buildings that are left standing and also explored most of the open land left from the demolished buildings.
Having read a previous report of squatters living in one of the buildings I was apprehensive at first to not disturb anyone but we didn't come across anyone other than two other explorers sat on the roof, looking out over the view.
First we explored the main part of the building, which was pretty much empty apart from the pretty busted up BMX park inside, there was smashed glass everywhere from the glass roof above.
The outside of the building is all boarded up- the main bulk of the building has the skate park inside. My favourite feature is definitely the tower on top!
Inside the main building, there is a ladder up into the roof of the building across some metal grating.
The actual purpose-built skate park was a dream come true, though also covered in glass and cement, it only took an hour to sweep so it was finally able to be skated in again!
The second building which I believe used to be offices, this building was much more modern but considerably more trashed than the previous.
There is a lot of land on the site too which we didn't fully cover because we had been exploring for around 5 hours and were both getting tired.
Thanks for looking!!
Molins are a leading cigarette making machine manufacturer who built machines to manufacture and package cigarettes.
The site was originally developed for weapons manufacture during World War II but in 1950 Molins built their factory on the site, they owned and operated here from 1950 until 2008.
In 2005 the site was subdivided and let out as offices and for light industry accommodation but in 2007 one of the major tenants left the site and it subsequently went up for sale.
In 2008 the site was purchased by German internet data center company "e-Shelter" and planning permission was given for them to build a data center on the site. The data center was later deemed to be unnecessary and never went ahead.
2009 brought the demolition of the main factory, leaving two buildings standing today, totaling 2,500 meters square.
The site is now owned by English Residential Land Partnership, purchasing the site in 2014 for 7 million. There are now talks of the site being redeveloped but the residents in the area refused the plans for the 212 houses that were proposed.
There is now a skate park built inside the larger building that remains- I couldn't find any history of this being professionally built or purpose built, despite the park being incredibly well constructed and covered in Vans and Salad Days logos.
The Explore
Now for the best bit!
This was my first proper explore having been to a few more places before this with no luck with access, I went with my boyfriend who has been Urbexing for ages and has recently given me incentive to actually go out and explore.
The main reason of us going to explore this site was to see the skate park inside and actually skate in there.
We arrived at around 4pm and the sky was quite cloudy which made for some really pretty external pictures! Access appeared to be easy at first but upon further exploring, the place is absolutely covered in anti-climb/vandal paint! We accessed both buildings that are left standing and also explored most of the open land left from the demolished buildings.
Having read a previous report of squatters living in one of the buildings I was apprehensive at first to not disturb anyone but we didn't come across anyone other than two other explorers sat on the roof, looking out over the view.
First we explored the main part of the building, which was pretty much empty apart from the pretty busted up BMX park inside, there was smashed glass everywhere from the glass roof above.
The outside of the building is all boarded up- the main bulk of the building has the skate park inside. My favourite feature is definitely the tower on top!
Inside the main building, there is a ladder up into the roof of the building across some metal grating.
The actual purpose-built skate park was a dream come true, though also covered in glass and cement, it only took an hour to sweep so it was finally able to be skated in again!
The second building which I believe used to be offices, this building was much more modern but considerably more trashed than the previous.
There is a lot of land on the site too which we didn't fully cover because we had been exploring for around 5 hours and were both getting tired.
Thanks for looking!!
