Leavesden Studios - Chronology
Year |
History |
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| 1939 | Leavesden Aerodrome was originally owned by the Ministry of Defence and used during World War II for the manufacture of Mosquito and Halifax aircraft. It was known as the De Havilland factory. |
 Open day at Leavesden Aerodrome dated July 7, 1951 (from Watford Observer) |
| 1941 | In 1941 Leavesden Aerodrome was being battered by gale force winds when an RAF corporal tried to open the doors of number 2 hanger. The door was operated by a chain which was attached to a ratchet and as he tried to open it an especially strong gust of wind blew it down on top of him. Later, on windy nights, his ghost walked the area around the hanger and the chains, which had long gone, were still heard. (from Luton Paranormal website) Now the hangars have gone, leaving the massive factory buildings to house the sound stages and production offices of the studios. |
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| 1945 | After the end of World War II, the factory was used by Rolls-Royce for the manufacture of helicopter engines. |
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| 1967 | Rolls Royce take over the whole facility. | |
| 1993 | Rolls-Royce ended a long history of manufacturing at Leavesden. At its peak the site employed over 3000 people, which had reduced to 1800 by 1991. The company had plans to turn it into a golf course and a hotel until fate intervened... | |
| 1994 | Leavesden Flight Centre (a private flying club) used the site for flying until March 1994. At its peak in 1990, there were some 60,000 aircraft movements at the site. Around November 1994, Production Designer Peter Lamont was in pre-production for the James Bond film GoldenEye. As Pinewood Studios was all booked up, as well as designing the sets, he was given the task of building an entire film studio to house them, utilising the 1 million square foot floor area of the former Rolls Royce factory at Leavesden Aerodrome. As Eon Productions was only leasing the site from Rolls Royce, only work required for the production was carried out.\n\nTemporary planning consent was obtained to enable the production work to go ahead. |
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| 1995 | In 1995 the site was purchased by Malasian-based Millennium Group (for almost £43million) with the intention of developing a Universal Studios/Disneyland style attraction and putting £150million into the development of a permanent film studio and residential housing. Although the housing development consisting of 314 dwellings and associated roads went ahead in 1999 (planning consent depended on a minimum of 300 houses being built on the site) the rest of the development plans for the film studio and studio tour were never submitted to the council. | |
| 1999 | In July 1999 MEPC purchased 14 acres then in September 1999 they bought a further 85 acres to develop a business park. |
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| 2000 | British Telecom (BT) signed up for the first 3 buildings in the business park effectively ending the plans to develop a theme-park style attraction on the site. Warner Bros began to lease the whole site from MEPC. |
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| 2001 - present | Production work continues at Leavesden. Due to the intense public interest in the Harry Potter films and their stars, the entire studio complex is a "Closed Set" and is not open to any public tours. The only people who can access the studio are cast and crew on the films. | |
| 2010 | Warner Bros announced a plan to buy and redevelop the site to upgrade the studio facilities, and provide a Harry Potter themed visitor attraction, enabling visitors to walk onto some of the sets that appeared in the movies. This attraction is expected to open in 2012. As well as the two new stages required for the visitor attraction, older hangars and other buildings will be demolished. A replacement 'C' stage will be built to the south west of the main studio buildings, a replacement workshop facility to the north. |
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