"The site is understood to have been constructed in 1938 as one of a number of Equipment Ammunition
Magazines (EAM), created to supply ammunition to the ring of anti-aircraft batteries protecting London from air attack. These depots were designed to receive ammunition from one of nine intermediate ammunition depots, and then distribute it to anti-aircraft batteries situated within a twenty mile radius. At least 34 such ammunition dumps were built across Britain as part of this scheme. No comprehensive survey of EAM's has been undertaken but a paper by English Heritage in 2004, relating to a planning appeal at the former Banstead EAM, Surrey, indicated that 22 sites had been identified in England only seven of which survived. However, Chelsfield does not appear to have been identified at the time.

The individual magazines were built to a standard type and varied in number according to the site. In this case, eleven magazines were eventually constructed, possibly in more than one phase. Six of the magazines were arranged in a regular three-by-two group possibly indicating a possible original complement. A further two magazines extended this group to the south of the site but were slightly misaligned. The remaining three were arranged in a line on the eastern part of the site, again on a slightly different alignment to the group of six. The single-storey magazines were rectangular in plan, 20.3m long by 9.4m wide, of concrete construction. The walls were of a cavity construction with an earthen centre between two walls of concrete. The flat roofs were of thin reinforced concrete. The interior of the buildings were divided into two rows of separate ammunition bays of concrete blockwork, either side of a central corridor. Each magazine was surrounded by an earthwork bund supported by concrete retaining walls. These were designed to channel any accidental blast upward to protect the other magazines. Normally the EAM would have had accommodation nearby for the supply troops serving on the site but it is possible that this site was serviced by troops based at nearby Fort Halstead.

All eleven magazines have been demolished in a programme of demolition understood to have begun in June and finished at the end of July 2012. Only fragments of some of the concrete walls of the magazines and the earthen bunds with their concrete retaining walls survive. The only other structures to survive on the site of probable World War II vintage are a small square concrete guard house at the main gate on the south-west corner of the site and a water tower just outside the gate." (1)
A photographic survey was carried out in c. 2018 (2)

<1> English Heritage, 2012, English Heritage (Listing) Advice Report for Chelsfield Ammunition Depot, Shacklands Road, Badgers Mount, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE18017.

<2> Ministry of Defence (?), 2018?, Chelsfield Ammunition Depot Badgers Mount (Unpublished document). SKE52158.