ABSTRACT
The manufacture and storage of gunpowder were known to be dangerous undertakings in the centuries when it was a common weapon of war. The exact cause of the accident is unknown, but it was established that a civil servant had gone to the plant a quarter of an hour before the explosion to get a sample of the gunpowder. In April 1798 the gunpowder mills at Battle blew up and seven separate buildings were totally destroyed. The gunpowder was needed for the firing of the Castle’s gun at 8 a.m. each day on the West Green. The Powder House was built in a remote part of the estate and provided with a hollow, roofless tower, so that any accidential ignition of the powder would be vented upwards. The provision of explosion venting, incidently, is standard practice these days but little was known of its importance when that Gateshead warehouse was built.
