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Barrels of fun: The story of Guy Fawkes is told in the incorporating mill
The Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey, Essex, boast 300 years of explosive history, and if you stick to your guns there you’ll discover the lock, stock and barrel of gunpowder production.
Explosives and propellants have been manufactured and developed here since the 17th century when the oil mill, originally set up by the abbey monks, was converted for making gunpowder.
Over the centuries the mills were expanded, and advances in machinery and processes meant that during World War One more than 5,000 people, 3,000 of them women, were employed at the site.
Today 20 historic buildings and buried remains lie scattered across the 170-acre site which is criss-crossed by a network of canals feeding off the River Lea, once essential to the transport of gunpowder and explosives.
With such a large area to cover it’s difficult to pick where to start, but the main exhibition seems like the logical choice. Here a plethora of objects provides the visitor with a background to gunpowder manufacture, and there’s an informative short film about the history of explosives and the mills.
The nearby armoury is a treasure trove of more than 200 historic weapons which come from all over the world and date as far back as the English Civil War. Unusually for an exhibition of this type, visitors are actively encouraged to get hands-on with the guns, rifles, revolvers, pistols, grenades, swords and even spears.
Museum volunteers are there to answer visitors’ questions about the technology behind the assorted weapons and to share interesting historical facts.
Hot-shots not content with merely handling the weapons can also try their hand at firing a variety of air and water rockets and cannons at the test range.
Danger zone: The press house claimed many workers’ lives
The rocket vault traces the development of rocket motors and propellants since the 19th century to the present day.
There’s plenty of items to get fired up about here, including a rocket engine from a V2 that broke up in mid-air over Waltham Abbey in 1945, and a Gosling motor from a Thunderbird surface-to-air missile from the Cold War era.
An exhibition housed in the incorporating mill, which was built back in 1861, focuses on the man forever linked in this country with gunpowder – Guy Fawkes.
Modern displays and a 3D fly-through of the Houses of Parliament narrate the events of the night in 1605 when Fawkes placed 36 barrels of gunpowder with the intention of blowing up the buildings, and King James I.
Not to be missed while exploring the Royal Gunpowder Mills site are two impressive ballistic pendula which were once used for testing mining explosives.
Those looking for a more leisurely way to get around have the option of taking a fun ride on the land train or military truck. Both of these tours venture into parts of the land inaccessible by other means, so it’s well worth hopping on board.
Panoramic views and glimpses of local deer, rabbits, hare and herons can be best seen from the wildlife tower.