Basingill

BASINGILL GUNPOWDER WORKS

 In April and May 2002, English Heritage investigated the gunpowder works at Basingill, near Kendal, founded in 1790 by John Wakefield and recognised as an industrial monument of national importance. The site, which occupies a narrow strip of ground next to the River Kent, is one of the smallest to be examined, with an area of only 1 hectare (2.5 acres). Remarkably, on the same site, the investigation also discovered the remains of a private garden, which appears to have been laid out in the early 19th-century by John Wakefield's grand-daughter, Isabella, and must therefore have co-existed with the gunpowder works for a time.

The gunpowder works at Basingill was built to provide extra 'incorporating mills' for the Old Sedgwick gunpowder works, some 500m upriver. The process of 'incorporating' involved the use of huge stone rollers to crush, mix and compact the powder to obtain a much finer product, evenly mixed and free of impurities. This was then returned to Old Sedgwick for the final stages of refinement. The gunpowder works at Old Sedgwick closed in 1852, at which point production was transferred from there to Gatebeck, some 4km to the south-east, but the incorporating mills at Basingill were retained. The works reached its full extent by the late 19th century, when it consisted of eight incorporating mills, arranged as a pair of mills and two groups of three mills, and three ancillary buildings. Production continued into the 20th century and in 1926 the site was taken over by Nobel Industries, along with the other Cumbrian gunpowder works. It was finally closed in September 1935. Only the stone-built basements of the eight incorporating mills survive today. The upper sections of the mills, which were constructed of timber in order to limit the damage caused by explosions, were deliberately destroyed at the time of the site's closure, to ensure all traces of gunpowder had been eradicated from the site. Originally, a large waterwheel, around 5m (15 feet) in diameter, would have powered each group of mills, but nothing of these now survives.

The remains of Isabella's garden lie on the southern edge of the gunpowder works. There are a number of surviving features, all now heavily overgrown: a formal terraced walk, informal woodland walks, planting terraces, viewing platforms, water features, the site of a gazebo and an arbour. There is also a stone-built viewing platform overlooking Levens Force, a waterfall close to the southern end of the site. Documentary evidence for the garden is sparse, but an early 20th-century account describes its construction by Isabella, who lived at nearby Sedgwick House. It is known that she got married and left Sedgwick in 1820, aged 20, which suggests that the garden must have been created between 1814 and 1820. The gunpowder works was not at its full extent by this date, but the garden walks passed close to its southern edge, so that the incorporating mills would have formed a dramatic backdrop. The way that the industrial works were incorporated into the ornamental layout suggests Isabella's pride in the achievement of her family and a celebration of the source of their new-found wealth.

Basingill is owned by the Environment Agency and there is no public access to the site.

For further information, please contact Abby Hunt at English Heritage's York Office (Tel: 01904 601901; e-mail: abby.hunt@english-heritage.org.uk )