 On its closure, Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills near London became the sole government-owned cordite factory until an expansion programme started at the outbreak of World War II.Although Site 4 was sold off and returned to agricultural use, large parts of the other three sites were retained for ammunition storage by the War Department and later the Ministry of Defence.Beginning in the 1930s, up to of Site 2, at Mossband, became Central Ammunition Depot, CAD Longtown.