Another gunpowder ramble looking at ruins, without the dog on the most recent occasion as it doesn’t really do heavy undergrowth.
This was the second works to be established (1798) in Cumbria after Old Sedgwick (and its Basingill extension), partly on the site of a disused blast furnace on the banks of the River Leven.
The reason for gunpowder factories in this part of the UK is mostly geographical; proximity to the quarrying areas which needed blasting powder, plenty of fast flowing streams for water power, and local woods for producing charcoal.
As for the other Cumbrian gunpowder sites, English Heritage (EH) has produced a comprehensive (250+ page) archeological survey of this one, although they never seem to venture underground.
The map below is from 1913 and some of the buildings shown have now been demolished.
The rest are mostly shells since all buildings where gunpowder was processed were burned deliberately when the site closed in 1935.
The site is on private land some of which is let out as caravan sites, some as a yard cum dumping ground for local builders and the southernmost buildings have been renovated and are occupied by various businesses.
We start at the top right and follow the course of the water to the bottom left as branches come off the main leat (or mill race) to power the various sorts of mill.
A The weir and sluice which direct water down the main leat.
This was built up with concrete in the 1950s when a hydroelectric plant was constructed at the southern end, blocking some of the entrances to the branching leats.
B This was originally a corning mill then a glazing mill.
Corning is where compressed slabs of gunpowder were ground into grains; glazing is where the grains were tumbled with graphite in barrels to make them more free-flowing and damp-proof.
It’s hard to see from the first photo, which was taken from the edge of the river, but the building consists of two square cells (mills), either side of a pair of walls between which a waterwheel was mounted - many gunpowder mills had this layout.
The wheel was replaced with a turbine in the early 1900s and the wheel pit today has iron supports for the turbine (gone), an extra little wall with an inlet hole, and a control wheel.
This iron ring about 80 cm wide looks like it could be a bit of a turbine, but it’s not mentioned in the EH survey so maybe it’s just rubbish.
C Corning house. Three walls are all that remains of a corning house at this location.
The machines inside were apparently driven by belts through the holes in the rear wall.
The belt drives were water powered. The wheel pit is mostly filled-in but the culverts bringing water in and away survive.
Nothing inside except broken bottles, and bits of old electrical wiring with ceramic insulators.
D Boiler house. One of the stages in making gunpowder is drying in a ‘stove house’ warmed by pipes carrying hot air or steam.
A boiler house that provided steam has been restored and contains a water tank and a recycled boiler from an old loco (Robey,1899).
This is the only building which is on public land on the other side of the main leat, and is getting vandalised - the interior pictures were taken through broken windows.
This was the second works to be established (1798) in Cumbria after Old Sedgwick (and its Basingill extension), partly on the site of a disused blast furnace on the banks of the River Leven.
The reason for gunpowder factories in this part of the UK is mostly geographical; proximity to the quarrying areas which needed blasting powder, plenty of fast flowing streams for water power, and local woods for producing charcoal.
As for the other Cumbrian gunpowder sites, English Heritage (EH) has produced a comprehensive (250+ page) archeological survey of this one, although they never seem to venture underground.
The map below is from 1913 and some of the buildings shown have now been demolished.
The rest are mostly shells since all buildings where gunpowder was processed were burned deliberately when the site closed in 1935.
The site is on private land some of which is let out as caravan sites, some as a yard cum dumping ground for local builders and the southernmost buildings have been renovated and are occupied by various businesses.
We start at the top right and follow the course of the water to the bottom left as branches come off the main leat (or mill race) to power the various sorts of mill.
A The weir and sluice which direct water down the main leat.
This was built up with concrete in the 1950s when a hydroelectric plant was constructed at the southern end, blocking some of the entrances to the branching leats.
B This was originally a corning mill then a glazing mill.
Corning is where compressed slabs of gunpowder were ground into grains; glazing is where the grains were tumbled with graphite in barrels to make them more free-flowing and damp-proof.
It’s hard to see from the first photo, which was taken from the edge of the river, but the building consists of two square cells (mills), either side of a pair of walls between which a waterwheel was mounted - many gunpowder mills had this layout.
The wheel was replaced with a turbine in the early 1900s and the wheel pit today has iron supports for the turbine (gone), an extra little wall with an inlet hole, and a control wheel.
This iron ring about 80 cm wide looks like it could be a bit of a turbine, but it’s not mentioned in the EH survey so maybe it’s just rubbish.
C Corning house. Three walls are all that remains of a corning house at this location.
The machines inside were apparently driven by belts through the holes in the rear wall.
The belt drives were water powered. The wheel pit is mostly filled-in but the culverts bringing water in and away survive.
Nothing inside except broken bottles, and bits of old electrical wiring with ceramic insulators.
D Boiler house. One of the stages in making gunpowder is drying in a ‘stove house’ warmed by pipes carrying hot air or steam.
A boiler house that provided steam has been restored and contains a water tank and a recycled boiler from an old loco (Robey,1899).
This is the only building which is on public land on the other side of the main leat, and is getting vandalised - the interior pictures were taken through broken windows.
Last edited:
