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Curtis and Harvey's Explosive Works opened in 1901 about two kilometres to the northwest of the village of Cliffe (Hoo Peninsula, Kent) on the south bank of the River Thames. Former chemical explosives factory is covering approximately 128 hectares of estuarine marshland. During the First World War it became a government-controlled establishment listed as a place where gunpowder was either manufactured or stored. It was a short-lived enterprise, closing around 1920 due to the post-war reduction in demand for munitions. The eastern extension to Cliffe is the best surviving example of a purpose-built First World War cordite factory nationally (a rare factory type) retaining the largest surviving group of First World War factory buildings in the country. Derelict site of the former explosives factory is on land owned by the Port of London Authority and managed by tenant farmers.
