The Old Powder Mills was a former research centre of GSK in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

History

In 1949 the site became a pharmaceutical manufacturing factory, when Menley & James bought the site, who were owned by

Smith, Kline & French Smith, Kline & French (SKF) was an American pharmaceutical company. History In 1830, John K. Smith opened a drugstore in Philadelphia, and his younger brother, George, joined him in 1841 to form John K Smith & Co. In 1865, Mahlon Kline joined '' ...

. In 1952 the site became wholly owned by Smith, Kline & French (SK&F), running under the name Bridge Chemicals. SK&F was based in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

, and the site ran under Smith Kline & French Research, or SK&F Research.New Scientist September 1981
/ref> In 1989, the site became part of SmithKline Beecham. By around 2000, when GSK was formed, around 300 people worked on the site.

Closure

GSK left the site in 2010, after announcing the closure of the site in February 2010.

Structure

It was situated in the west of Kent, off the A21, north of the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance ...

, south of

Hildenborough Hildenborough is a village and rural parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Tonbridge and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Sevenoaks. The village lies in the River Medwa ...

. There was around 155,000 sq ft of laboratories and office buildings. The north part of the site contained office buildings, and the South part of the site only contained laboratories.

References

External links

New development

Demolition
{{Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in the United Kingdom 1949 establishments in England 2010 disestablishments in England GSK plc Pharmaceutical research institutes Research institutes in Kent