Ministry Of Defence Building H7 At Tl 3756 0011

ROYAL GUNPOWDER FACTORY TL3700 3/10012 MOD Building H7 at TL 3756 0011 - II

Reel Drying Stove. 1904. English bond yellow brick; hipped zinc-covered roofs with almost flat roof to porch. Rectangular 8-bay plan, originally of one room, with "truck porches" to each end. One storey. 8-bay east and west elevations with red brick segmental arches over now-blocked windows. Mid C20 double doors to ends. The porches, to which tramways originally ran, each contain the remains of a "barrier board" to keep out grit and dust. Blocked round openings indicate the position of entry for steam pipes. Interior not inspected but roof replaced after bomb damage c1940. Associated with the manufacture of cordite, which Waltham had pioneered and which in the 1890s took over as the main services explosive. This reel drying stove represents an advance on the earlier example, L165 (qv), in that it was designed to extract acetone after it had been used as a solvent in the manufacturing process. (RCHME report, 1993).