EXPLOSIVE INDUSTRY
By the 1870s, Faversham had become the centre of the British explosives industry and later supplied munitions to First World War troops. The three main ingredients of gunpowder were charcoal, saltpetre and sulphur. The first could be made by burning alder growing on the marshes and the last two could be readily imported. Gunpowder was first manufactured in the 1560s at what was known as Home Works. By the 1700s, the factory occupied a creekside site, a mile long. Stonebridge Pond was created as a water supply, and channels from it provided a safe transportation route into the creek. On the roads, sparks from iron wheels and horseshoes could cause explosions. One of the original water wheels can be seen at the Chart Gunpowder Mills visitor centre. In the 1680s, just west of the town, the Oare Works was opened by Huguenots exiled from France, supplying gunpowder to the East India Company. In 1781, a massive explosion at Stonebridge Pond tore down part of Davington church, so in 1787, the Government built the Marsh Works outside the town. It was here, in 1846, that the world’s first guncotton factory opened. Guncotton was a high explosive that replaced gunpowder. Unsurprisingly, accidents were common. In 1916, the industry’s worst disaster occurred in the factory at nearby Uplees, when 200 tons of TNT detonated, and 115 men and boys were killed. Production of explosives ceased in Faversham in 1933.