Ministry of Defence Building L167 at Tl 3777 0112

The Ministry of Defence Building L167, located at the Royal Gunpowder Factory, is a charcoal store built in 1889 and later converted into a Reel Drying Stove around 1898. It features Flemish bond yellow brick and has a hipped roof. The building has a rectangular plan originally consisting of 9 x 2 bays, with a 7-bay room to the north and a 2-bay south end, which has been truncated by the removal of the south room. It is a single storey structure with a chamfered brick plinth, a stepped brick cornice, and chamfered abaci on the pilasters that separate the bays. Each bay is spanned by segmental arches over cast-iron framed windows and double doors on the west elevation, while the other elevations are articulated in a similar style. Blocked round openings indicate where steam pipes were once entered. The interior is noted for its iron roof trusses. This building is significant for its association with the manufacture of cordite, which Waltham pioneered, becoming the main explosive service in the 1890s. The incorporating mills transitioned from gunpowder to cordite production in 1898/9, and the drying stove was used in the manufacturing process after pressing, where cordite was dried on racks before being taken to the reeling house for winding.