An Explosive Place!
The Royal Gunpowder Mills
Gunpowder, and the explosives and propellants that followed it, provided a form of energy which changed the world by encouraging trade, exploration, mining, and civil engineering, as well as serving the military purposes of conquest and defence.
The Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey have been involved in the production and development of explosives for over 300 years. The site has seen the manufacture of gunpowder, guncotton, nitro-glycerine, cordite and the high explosive tetryl. After WW2 the site became a research establishment for non-nuclear explosives and propellants.
The site was closed by the Ministry of Defence in 1991 and a charitable trust set up to safeguard the site. The site is operated by volunteers and is open all weekends and bank holidays from April to October.
The site also contains an area of Special Scientific Interest and there is a guided land-train tour which runs every hour on the hour which is well work taking as it shows you this area as well as giving you a good overview of the complete site of the Mills.
Submitted by: Nina Hall, 22 January 2007
