Skip over main navigation
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills
  • Search
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • TripAdvisor
  • Instagram
Contact us Book now  Donate
Keep an eye on our website for details of our new 2020 events! 



Menu
  • About us
    • Mission
    • News
    • Team
      • Operations team
      • Friends Association
      • Trustees
    • Reports
    • Press office
  • Our site
    • Julie's Nature Column
    • Hidden Railway News
    • History
    • Heritage
    • Nature
    • Science
    • Book Shop
  • Visit us
    • What's on
    • When are we open ?
    • How to get here
    • Admission Prices
    • Professor Nitrate's Mad Lab
    • Group visits
    • Visitor Map
    • Tractor Trailer Guided Tours
    • Exhibitions
    • Railways
    • Cafe
    • Birthday Parties
  • Hire
    • Filming
    • Spaces
  • Schools
    • School Visits
    • Education Leaflet
    • FAQs
  • Get involved
    • Volunteer
    • Jobs
    • Amazon Smile
  • Virtual Tours
  • Admin
    • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • history
  1. Our site
  2. History

History

Although there is no evidence that Guy Fawkes, (the man connected with the Gunpowder Plot) sourced the black powder from Waltham Abbey's gunpowder mill, we like to play up to the possibility to the hilt, by celebrating with a great Guy Fawkes festival and a special Gunpowder, Treason and Plot education programme for schools. 

The Royal Gunpowder Mills has a long and fascinating history.  It played an essential part in military history and national defense, as well as the development of civil industries such as mining and quarrying .  It is a story with humble beginnings, of a family run business, which prospered and grew to become Crown property and a major local employer of workers in the Lea Valley and beyond, where people risked their lives to earn a crust.  It became an ever expanding factory, constantly adapting to new technology, pulling in more and more workers to meet the demands of warfare across the empire, so growing and altering the shape of Waltham Abbey.   Discover how the factory rose to the enormous challenges of WW1, with the sudden arrival of women to work at the factory, all unskilled and reaching at least 3,000 by the end of the war, and why a one-legged stool was a crucial health and safety implement. Explore its final phase from WW2 as a top-secret research centre for Cold War inventions and rocketry.

Interact with our history

On an Open Day you can enjoy an introductory film, exhibtions, an armoury, explore listed buildings and take a guided land train tour around the 170 acres of historic buildings and woodland. We are family-friendly and have fun stuff for kids.  What's On has details of special tours for an in-depth experience of history. Groups of 20 people or more can discuss a day to visit or take a tour at any time of year.

For more information on our next open day or when you can visit click here 

Chronology of Gunpowder

Chronology of Gunpowder

A timeline of gunpowder development and related activities at the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills Read more

Published: 3rd August, 2019

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • History
Industrial Archaeology

Industrial Archaeology

The Royal Gunpowder Mills site is an important industrial monument containing one of the most extensive ranges of industrial archaeology in the country. Read more

Published: 28th June, 2019

Updated: 4th July, 2019

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • History
The Gunpowder & Explosives History Group

The Gunpowder & Explosives History Group

The Gunpowder and Explosives History Group was set up in October 2000. We had first met in 1985, drawn together by Alan Crocker, Glenys Crocker, and Phil Philo, and had decided to call ourselves the Gunpowder Mills Study Group. Read more

Published: 27th June, 2019

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • History
Historical Walk and Audio Tour

Historical Walk and Audio Tour

Discover the science and history surrounding the manufacture of gunpowder and other explosives by taking our 23 point Online Audio Tour which can be listened to by clicking the speaker icons below. When you visit our site in person, you may also take our Self Guided Audio Tour by scanning the QR Codes on each Information Panel with your Mobile phone. Read more

Published: 21st June, 2019

Updated: 30th August, 2019

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • History
Archive

Archive

After the closure of ERDE, the archive material inherited 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 2004 the Archive had become rather disorganised. Read more

Published: 4th July, 2019

Updated: 13th August, 2020

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • archive
  • History
Why So Important?

Why So Important?

Internationally, the Royal Gunpowder Mills is amongst a handful of places associated with the manufacture of explosives dating back many centuries which have subsequently been preserved and opened to the public. Read more

Published: 6th June, 2019

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • History
300 Years of History

300 Years of History

Gunpowder is a mixture of the natural products saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal. Its beginnings are obscure... Read more

Published: 6th June, 2019

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • History
The Armoury

The Armoury

Two shots a minute from a musket three hundred years ago, to over fifteen hundred from a WW2 machine gun, the history of firearms is a story of amazing technical development and inventiveness. Come and explore our collection of over 300 historic firearms. Read more

Published: 21st June, 2018

Updated: 9th May, 2020

Author: Emily Cross

Related topics:
  • Science
  • History
  • Exhibitions
Railway History

Railway History

Up until January 1917 all rolling stock was moved by manual labour, but with the demands of the First World War, locomotives were introduced to move explosives and propellants around the site, plus bring in raw materials from the standard gauge railway at the Royal Small Arms Factory which lay to the south of the Royal Gunpowder Mills. Read more

Published: 21st June, 2018

Updated: 20th December, 2019

Author: Emily Cross

Related topics:
  • Railways
  • History
Back to top

Showing 10 of 9

Latest

  • Julie's Nature Column - Late summer 2020

    Julie's Nature Column - Late summer 2020

  • Autumn 2020

    Autumn 2020

  • Amazon Smile

    Amazon Smile

    Amazon Smile

  • Help Royal Gunpowder Mills!

    Help Royal Gunpowder Mills!

    Coronavirus Survival Appeal The Royal Gunpowder Mills is closed until further notice and as a result, we have lost our essential visitor incomes and face a serious funding gap. Please donate to help continue our Charity’s work.

Most read

  • Admission Prices

    Admission Prices

    Find out more about costs for each event.

  • How to get here

    How to get here

    Find out more about where we're located and how to get here by all types of transport.

  • When are we open ?

    When are we open ?

    We open for events and group tours. Our event opening times vary - Please check before you travel. You'll find our upcoming open days and events at What's On.

  • Mission

    Replace this with your content

  • Professor Nitrate's Mad Lab

    Professor Nitrate's Mad Lab

    There's so much fun to be had in Professor Nitrate's Mad Lab

  • Gunpowder Cafe

    Gunpowder Cafe

    Tasty treats are being served at our Gunpowder Cafe!

  • Jobs

    Jobs

  • Group visits

    Group visits

    We offer a fabulous range of activities for any type of group booking - so give us a call and arrange your group booking today!

  • Education Leaflet

    Take a look at our latest education leaflet.

  • Filming

    Atmospheric, derilict, apocalyptic, kooky and beautiful Film locations

Tag cloud

Canals Waterways
Julie's Nature Column - Spring 2020

Julie's Nature Column - Spring 2020

Read more

Published: 18th March, 2019

Updated: 24th April, 2020

Author: Julie Matthews

RGM Historic Book Reprint Series

RGM Historic Book Reprint Series

The Historic Reprint Series are Facsimilie reprints of books having historical relevance to the development and manufacture of gunpowder at the Royal Gunpowder Mills. Read more

Published: 19th July, 2019

Updated: 30th August, 2019

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • Heritage
  • Book Shop
RGM Book Series

RGM Book Series

Books about the history of the Royal Gunpowder Mills written by Archive Volunteers. Read more

Published: 19th July, 2019

Updated: 29th January, 2020

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • Heritage
  • Book Shop
Help Royal Gunpowder Mills!

Help Royal Gunpowder Mills!

Coronavirus Survival Appeal The Royal Gunpowder Mills is closed until further notice and as a result, we have lost our essential visitor incomes and face a serious funding gap. Please donate to help continue our Charity’s work. Read more

Donate Fundraise

Published: 17th June, 2020

Updated: 9th August, 2020

Author:

Amazon Smile

Amazon Smile

Amazon Smile Read more

Published: 13th October, 2020

Author: Ian MacFarlane

Related topics:
  • Donate

Contact us

Royal Gunpowder Mills,
Beaulieu Drive,
Waltham Abbey,
Essex, EN9 1JY
United Kingdom

[email protected]
01992 707370

Book now

Sign up for our newsletter

Please enter your first name
Please enter your last name
Please enter your email address Please enter a valid email address (e.g. [email protected])
  • Login
  • Logout
  • Manager
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Royal Gunpowder Mills is a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 1062968).