Basingill Gunpowder Works (ruin)

In 1790, Basingill Gunpowder Works was established to provide greater incorporating mills for the long-closed Old Sedgewick gunpowder factory a short distance upstream of Basingill.

The basingill gunpowder works are located on the River Kent at basingill, north west of Sedgwick. The works were established in 1790 just down stream from where Old Sedgewick gunpowder factory was closed during conversion to an incorporating mill for Basingill gunpowder works.

Until the mid-nineteenth century, gunpowder was the only incendiary available for military use and quarry blasting. From the mid-16th century, water-powered manufacturing mills were established in England, although powder had previously been prepared by hand for at least 200 years.

The ruins, earthworks, and buried remains of the Basingill Gunpowder Works, which were located on the east bank of the River Kent approximately 700m WSW of Sedgwick village.

The remains include three sets of integrating mills with architectural features, as well as a little amount of original timberwork, the water management system built to provide power for driving the machinery in these mills, a green charge house and watch station sites, and the ruins of a wrought charge house and watch house.

The name Basingill comes from the nearby waterfall named Basin Ghyll.

Created: 12  November  2021  Edited: 29  November  2023