Kodak Harrow
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The Kodak Works, Harrow was a photographic manufacturing plant and
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
centre on Headstone Drive, Harrow, North West London. Built by the American
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
company in 1890, it was their largest factory in the United Kingdom and at its peak in the mid-20th century employed up to 6,000 workers. Production of photographic film ended in 2005 and the plant closed its doors in 2016.


History

The factory was built in what was then farmland in the hamlet of
Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...
in
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
, directly to the west of the railway line that stops at nearby
Harrow & Wealdstone station Harrow & Wealdstone is a London Underground and railway station on the Watford DC line and West Coast Main Line in Harrow and Wealdstone in the London Borough of Harrow. It is on the line from London Euston station. It is also the northern te ...
. Kodak purchased of land and the plant opened in 1891, Kodak's first manufacturing facility outside the United States where production was running in
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
. Initially the factory developed and printed photographs of clients. In the next 20 years the factory expanded. Eventually
film roll Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent pl ...
s and
photographic paper Photographic paper is a paper coated with a light-sensitive chemical formula, like photographic film, used for making photographic prints. When photographic paper is exposed to light, it captures a latent image that is then developed to form a v ...
were also being produced at the plant. Added to the factory was a museum, sports facilities, and a research laboratory which worked in parallel and competed with that in Rochester and other international Kodak centres. At its peak during the 1950s, about 6,000 workers were employed at the site. By then, the facility covered an area of . As Kodak was beginning to struggle owing to the growth of
digital photography Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image is sto ...
, the commercial feasibility of the Harrow site declined and was being wound down in the 2000s. Some parts of the site were demolished, others were sold or leased. In 2005, film production ended at all Kodak plants in the UK, and in Harrow 600 jobs were lost. Nevertheless 1,400 employees continued to work at Harrow. Harrow was also planned to become Kodak's UK headquarters; however in 2005 it was decided to keep the headquarters in
Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...
but at a different site. Following Kodak's bankruptcy in the U.S. in 2012, the future of the site was unclear. The British spin-off
Kodak Alaris Kodak Alaris is a British manufacturer and marketer of traditional photographic supplies (including film, paper, and processing chemicals), hardware and software for digital imaging and information management, and retail printing kiosks. The com ...
took control of the site in 2013 and its association with the original American Kodak ended. At this time, Harrow was the global manufacturer of all Kodak colour negative paper.


Research Laboratory

The laboratory at Harrow opened in 1929 and at one point served as Kodak's European research centre. The facility closed in the 2000s.


Kodak Museum

In 1927, a museum was opened at the site. The 1947 published book ''The Kodak Museum, A Permanent Exhibition Illustrating the History of Photography and Some of its Applications in Science, Art and Industry'' is an illustrated catalogue of the collection at the Kodak Museum. The museum at Harrow closed in 1985; the items are now at the
National Science and Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum G ...
. The nearby Headstone Manor Museum also has a collection of items relating to the Kodak factory.


Kodak Sports Ground

The sports ground located on the west side of Harrow View and contiguous with
Headstone Manor Headstone Manor is a 14th-century Grade I listed moated manor house in Headstone, England, and today a part of the Headstone Manor and Museum. Headstone Manor & Museum is a museum of the site itself as well as Harrow more generally. It also ho ...
was made for the employees at the plant and included facilities such as tennis courts and rifle ranges. Kodak F.C. was formed in 1935 for workers at the factory. They currently play at Boxtree Park in the
Middlesex County Football League The Middlesex County Football League is a football competition based in England loosely drawing teams from the central, northern and western parts of Greater London. The league was founded in 1984 and initially had only one division, although it ...
. During the 2000s as Kodak in Harrow downsized, the sports ground was leased. A leisure centre run by
Nuffield Health Nuffield Health is the United Kingdom's largest healthcare charity. Established in 1957 the charity operates 31 Nuffield Health Hospitals and 114 Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centres. It is independent of the National Health Service and ...
operated at the grounds but it closed in 2011.


Closure and legacy

On 13 April 2016,
Kodak Alaris Kodak Alaris is a British manufacturer and marketer of traditional photographic supplies (including film, paper, and processing chemicals), hardware and software for digital imaging and information management, and retail printing kiosks. The com ...
announced that the Harrow facility will close down, citing "drop in demand coming into the factory". By this time only 250 people were working at the site. It finally closed in December 2016. The site was purchased by developers Barratt and Hyde who planned to build 2,000 new homes along with new facilities. The development is called Eastman Village, paying homage to the founder of Kodak,
George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the ...
. The tall
chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...
of the factory, which has been a local landmark, is being retained.


References

{{coords, 51.5945, -0.3458, display=title Kodak 1891 establishments in England Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Harrow History of the London Borough of Harrow Chemical industry in London