Cardington: Britain’s Airship Heritage

Construction of Cardington’s No. 1 shed, currently housing the HAV project, began in 1916 when Short Brothers was awarded an Admiralty contract for the development of dirigible airships.

The first vehicles constructed in the facility, which became the Royal Airship Factory in 1919, were the R31 and R32. The site was enlarged in the late 1920s to accommodate the R101, a much larger but ultimately ill-fated design which crashed in 1930 in France on its maiden voyage, effectively putting an end to the British airship industry.

The No. 2 shed was built in 1928 to house the R100, another large airship that successfully crossed the Atlantic in both directions in 1930. The two buildings have an internal length of 812 ft., a width of 180 ft. and a height of 157 ft.

Over subsequent years, the Cardington sheds have been used for everything from aircraft storage and balloon training (as RAF Cardington) to a film set for several movies including the Batman series. Major refurbishment work began on the buildings in 2012.