BAE Chadderton


BAE Chadderton at Greengate, Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, opened in 1939. It was the headquarters of Avro, and was later owned by BAE Systems. It had around 11,000 employees.
The site was the birthplace of the Avro Lancaster. Over 3,000 Lancasters were produced on the site, which were moved to Woodford Aerodrome for assembly. It also produced the Bristol Blenheim under licence; the Avro Manchester; the York; the Lincoln; the Tudor; the Shackleton; and the Vulcan.
A substantial amount of Avro's documentation were lost in a fire at Chadderton in 1959.
The site was closed in 2012, after BAE announced that it was no longer viable to operate from the site. At the time, BAE had 200 employees at the site. 160 employees, and ongoing work at the site, were transferred to Samlesbury Aerodrome.