Ministry of Defence Building L145 (Group F Incorporating Mills) is a Grade II listed building in the Epping Forest local planning authority area, England. First listed on 26 November 1993. Industrial, gunpowder mill.
Ministry of Defence Building L145 (Group F Incorporating Mills)
- WRENN ID
- quiet-lead-river
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Epping Forest
- Constituency
- Epping Forest MP: Dr Neil Hudson (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 26 November 1993
- Type
- Industrial, gunpowder mill
- Address
- Ministry of Defence Building L145 (Group F Incorporating Mills), Waltham Abbey
- OS grid reference
- TL 376 013
- Coordinates
- 51.69392, -0.00956
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Ministry of Defence Building L145, also known as the Gunpowder Incorporating Mills, was built in 1878 and later converted for cordite incorporation around 1898-1899. It features English bond yellow brick construction with hipped slate roofs on both the Engine House and Boiler House. The cross wings have brick walls that separate the bays and extend into coped gables that break through the felt and slate roof. Mid-20th century replacement walling has been added to what were originally wood and canvas side walls.
The building has a T-plan layout, with a central Engine House and a Boiler House at the eastern end, flanked by three-bay cross wings on the north and south sides for gunpowder incorporating operations. It is a single storey, with the Engine House being taller than the rest. The Engine House features a chamfered brick plinth and a brick dentil cornice, with paired segmental-arched windows set in recessed panels on the upper parts of the east and west elevations. The Boiler House, consisting of four bays by one, has mid-20th century windows inserted into each bay and a gauged red brick semi-circular arch above the east door.
The interior resembles other incorporating mills but has undergone significant alterations and lacks the original gearing machinery that was once beneath the cross wing floors. This building is noted as the most altered of an important group of incorporating mills, with its plan closely modeled on the earlier Group C Incorporating Mills, Building L157, constructed in 1861.
Local climate
Ministry of Defence Building L145 (Group F Incorporating Mills) sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 97% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 63% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
- 1 Ministry of Defence Building L153 (Group D Incororating Mills)
- 2 Ministry of Defence Building L148 (Group G Incorporating Mills)
- 3 Ministry of Defence Building L157 (Group C Incorporating Mills)
- 4 Ministry of Defence Building L149 (Group E Incorporating Mills)
- 5 Ministry of Defence Building Numbers L176 (Boiler House) and L177
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings
Nearby listed buildings
- Ministry of Defence Building L141
- Ministry of Defence Building L148 (Group G Incorporating Mills)
- Ministry of Defence Building L136 at Tl 3764 0142
- Ministry of Defence Building L149 (Group E Incorporating Mills)
- Cordite Press House known as L134
- Ministry of Defence Building L135 at Tl 3766 0144
- Ministry of Defence Building L133 at Tl 3674 0144
- Ministry of Defence Building L153 (Group D Incororating Mills)
- Ministry of Defence Building L154 (Expense Magazine)
- Ministry of Defence Building L157 (Group C Incorporating Mills)