Cumbrian Gunpowder Industry

 English Heritage's Landscape Investigation and Architectural Investigation Teams are currently working together to investigate the physical remains of Cumbria's once thriving gunpowder industry. Our definitive study of the military side of the explosives industry in England has recently been published, as a book entitled Dangerous Energy (2000). This publication is available to buy from the English Heritage bookshop. With hundreds of mineral mines and stone quarries in the Lake District, from the mid-18th century onwards, Cumbria became a centre for the manufacture of the explosive required by these key industries. As a result, the production sites that still survive (in varying states of preservation) offer a microcosm of the whole civilian gunpowder industry.

The current project was initiated partly in response to recommendations made by English Heritage's 'Monuments Protection Programme', which works throughout England to identify all kinds of historic sites and monuments worthy of preservation. However, we now intend to examine in much greater detail all the gunpowder manufacturing sites in Cumbria, including those where the physical remains are too poorly preserved to merit protection. This will be achieved through detailed analytical survey of the architectural and archaeological remains visible on the surface, together with documentary research. The project will help the Lake District National Park Authority, the National Trust and others to conserve the sites that are already protected monuments, will enhance our understanding of how the industry worked in its regional context, and will make an important contribution to the study of the gunpowder industry nationally and internationally.

The seven powder manufactories (or eight if Gatebeck is treated as two sites) all lie in the south-eastern part of the county, in three distinct groups: Old Sedgwick, New Sedgwick and Basingill lie in close proximity to one another along the banks of the River Kent 5-6km south of Kendal, with Gatebeck (Low and High Works) situated about 4km to the south-east; Blackbeck and Lowwood are situated close to Haverthwaite; Elterwater is somewhat isolated from the others in Great Langdale.

Old Sedgwick was the earliest gunpowder works in the area, established in about 1764, apparently as a speculative commercial venture to supply mines and quarries in the north of England with blasting powder. Until this time, gunpowder manufacturers were mostly concerned with supplying the military market and in consequence, the works were concentrated in the south of England, especially in the area around London. Cumbria proved a successful alternative location for the civilian industry. It offered secluded locations far from major centres of population, which allowed the dangerous manufacturing process to continue in relative safety. There was sufficient woodland to supply one of the key ingredients of the 'black powder' - charcoal. There were plenty of fast-flowing rivers, which could be harnessed to supply power. Finally, the area had good communication links to the west coast for the import of the other raw materials needed - sulphur and saltpetre - and for the export of the finished product. Old Sedgwick prospered, and the company opened an outstation at Basingill in 1790 in order to increase production, before finally relocating to a larger site at Gatebeck in 1854. By this time, or shortly after, four competitors had also opened gunpowder factories in Cumbria.

However, with the development of other types of high explosive, and the collapse in the demand for many of the Lake District's mineral resources brought about by the end of World War I, the gunpowder industry fell suddenly and sharply into decline. Companies were forced to merge to increase their efficiency, but even this did not save the industry. In 1926, all the Cumbrian mills were incorporated into Nobel Industries (part of ICI) and gunpowder production in the region was gradually phased out, with Gatebeck the last site to close in 1936.

Most of these old gunpowder sites are currently inaccessible to the public and several are in private use as caravan parks, country hotels, or industrial estates. Parts of the works at New Sedgwick are visible from a public footpath, but please do not trespass or attempt to visit without the permission of the landowners. In addition, most of the sites are now overgrown with scrub and woodland, making access difficult and sometimes dangerous. The Landscape Investigation team has investigated another gunpowder manufacturing site, at Chilworth in Surrey, which is now becoming much more accessible to visitors, thanks to the work of the local Borough Council. Research we carried out some years ago into one of Europe's most important gunpowder manufacturing sites, at Waltham Abbey in Essex, has helped to turn the site into a thriving visitor attraction today.

Full field investigation reports on the following individual gunpowder works can be ordered on-line: Old Sedgwick, Basingill, New Sedgwick, Elterwater, Blackbeck and Lowwood.

For further information about our research in the Lake District, contact Marcus Jecock or Abby Hunt on 01904 601901 or e-mail: marcus.jecock@english-heritage.org.uk or abby.hunt@english-heritage.org.uk