The Royal Gunpowder Mills are a former industrial site in Waltham Abbey, England. It was one of three Royal Gunpowder Mills in the United Kingdom (the others being at Ballincollig and Faversham). Waltham Abbey is the only site to have survived virtually intact.
The Royal Gunpowder Mills, Waltham Abbey, were in operation for over 300 years. Starting in the mid-1850s the site became involved in the development of revolutionary nitro-based explosives and propellants known as "smokeless powder". The site grew in size, and black powder became less important.
Shortly after the Second World War it became solely a Defence Research Establishment – firstly the Explosives Research and Development Establishment, then the Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment Waltham Abbey; and finally the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment Waltham Abbey.
The Government acquired the site, at the instigation of deputy comptroller of the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich, Sir William Congreve, 1st Baronet, for the production of gunpowder in 1787.[1]
During Second World War, Waltham Abbey remained an important cordite production unit and for the first two years of the war was the sole producer of RDX. RDX is one component of torpex, the explosive that was used in the Bouncing Bomb.[2] RDX production was transferred to ROF Bridgwater and cordite production was dispersed to new propellant factories at ROF Bishopton, ROF Wrexham and ROF Ranskill.[3] The Royal Gunpowder Mills finally closed on 28 July 1945.[4]
The establishment re-opened as a research centre known as the Explosives Research and Development Establishment, or ERDE, in 1945.[5] It became the Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment, Waltham Abbey, or PERME Waltham Abbey in 1977. The rocket activity later extended to the production of rocket motors, including work on the Skylark project.[6] The South site and the Lower Island works were handed over to Royal Ordnance plc immediately before it was privatised in 1984.[7]
The North side however remained in Ministry of Defence control as a research centre; becoming part of the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment. After various reorganisations, the research centre finally closed in 1991.[5] Since 1999, the Mills are an Anchor Point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage, set in 175 acres (0.71 km2) of parkland and containing 21 buildings of major historical importance.[8]
A large area of the north site is listed as the Waltham Abbey SSSI and another separate area is a scheduled ancient monument. Visitors can see exhibits related to gunpowder making, tour the site on a land train[9] An attempt to demolish the cordite mills and replace them with dormitories for young people staying at a children's activity centre was rejected by Epping Forest District Council in 2016 after exposure in the national press.[10]
The 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge narrow-gauge railway is 1,100 yards (1,000 m) long and has two stations. It is known as the Gunpowder Railway.[11]
| Name | Builder | Works number | Type | Built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John H. Bowles | Baguley-Drewry | 3755 | 4wDH | 1981 | |
| Ruhrthaler | 3920 | 0-4-0DH | 1969 | ||
| Hunslet | 8828 | 0-4-0BE | 19679 | ||
| Greenwood and Batley | 6099 | 2w-2DE | 1964 | 3 ft (914 mm) gauge | |
| Budleigh | Ruston & Hornsby | 235624 | 4wDM | 1945 | 18 in (457 mm) ex-Bicton Woodland Railway |
| Carneige | Hunslet | 4524 | 0-4-4-0DM | 1954 | 18 in (457 mm) ex-Bicton Woodland Railway |
After the South site, also known as Quinton Hill,[12] was vacated and also decontaminated and redeveloped, much of the remaining land was converted into the 255 acres (103 ha) Gunpowder Park, which is part of the Lee Valley Park and was opened in 2004. The regenerated parkland is dedicated to the arts, science and wildlife.[13]
After the closure of ERDE, the inherited archive material passed through a number of hands and storage locations, particularly in the latter period before opening to the public, when outside staff from the firm designing the exhibition had to have free access. Consequently, by 2001 the archive had become rather disorganised. The opportunity has therefore been taken to start a ground-up exercise involving a complete check of the holding and the design of computer databases of the material in order to produce the digital catalogue.[18]
