The Leavesden Aerodrome was a nearby site and in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II came to its peak usage. The de Havilland company, based in nearby Hatfield, were under contract by the Ministry of Defence to produce the Mosquito fighter craft and the Halifax bomber. This new site was acquired as the large scale hangars needed to accommodate the production of a huge number of planes required could not be constructed at de Havilland's Hatfield base. 710 Halifax bombers were built at the Leavesden Aerodrome and manufacturing of Mosquitoes soon followed, totalling 1,476 planes built. The two planes were both critical successes for Britain during the conflict.
After the war, the aerodrome was acquired by Rolls-Royce who used it as a factory producing engines for airplanes and later helicopters. However by the early 1990s they had sold their interests in the site. Eventually Rolls-Royce departed during 1992/93 before the airfield's final closure in 1994. Unable to find a new owner, Leavesden Aerodrome was left disused.
... and so to film
In 1994 Eon Productions, the makers of the James Bond movies, needed a suitable facility to make their latest Bond film Goldeneye and after an extensive search, they discovered the recently disused Leavesden Aerodrome.
The filmmakers soon realised that the site was perfect for film production; the huge aircraft hangars made ideal production stages for the creation of film sets. Where aircraft once hung, set lighting took their place, creating the perfect environment in which to film. In addition, the large exterior filming area backlot provided filmmakers with a unique facility that could host productions of any scale.
They acquired the site in 2010 and embarked on an ambitious building programme which opened in 2012 to create a new world-class, state-of-the-art film and TV studio.