Kennall Vale mill no. 6
Kennall Vale is a beautiful wooded valley near Ponsanooth, Cornwall, maintained by Cornwall Wildlife Trust. (www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reserves/kennall-...)
It is a sanctuary for the pipistrelle bat and an abundance of birdlife, but it does not hide its industrial past. For 100 years, between 1811 and 1910, it was rather surprisingly a gunpowder factory!
Until 1809, all the gunpowder used in Cornish mines was manufactured outside of Cornwall. In 1809, a small factory was set up at the nearby Cosawes Wood, and the relative success of that enterprise encouraged the Fox family to invest in a factory on this site (they eventually acquired the Cosawes site too). The nature of gunpowder manufacture requires many operations conducted in different buildings, and for safety concerns these buildings are kept well apart. That's one of the delights of a walk around these woods; there's a surprise around every corner!
The development of nitro-glycerine based high explosives such as dynamite and gelignite started the decline of Kennall Vale. It was sold to Curtis & Harvey, the largest explosive manufacturer in Britain at the time, in 1898, who used to to make specialist powders. It closed for good in 1910.
The building photographed is the 'newest' and fartherst upstream of 6 watermills in the valley. These mills were powered via leats that either collected water diverted from the river, or in this case, collected water running off the hillside. They were used to grind down ingredients of gunpowder, e.g. charcoal, to a fine powder. Apart from a bridge downstream, the 6 mills are the only listed buildings of the many ruins in the valley.
Kennall Vale mill no. 6
Kennall Vale is a beautiful wooded valley near Ponsanooth, Cornwall, maintained by Cornwall Wildlife Trust. (www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reserves/kennall-...)
It is a sanctuary for the pipistrelle bat and an abundance of birdlife, but it does not hide its industrial past. For 100 years, between 1811 and 1910, it was rather surprisingly a gunpowder factory!
Until 1809, all the gunpowder used in Cornish mines was manufactured outside of Cornwall. In 1809, a small factory was set up at the nearby Cosawes Wood, and the relative success of that enterprise encouraged the Fox family to invest in a factory on this site (they eventually acquired the Cosawes site too). The nature of gunpowder manufacture requires many operations conducted in different buildings, and for safety concerns these buildings are kept well apart. That's one of the delights of a walk around these woods; there's a surprise around every corner!
The development of nitro-glycerine based high explosives such as dynamite and gelignite started the decline of Kennall Vale. It was sold to Curtis & Harvey, the largest explosive manufacturer in Britain at the time, in 1898, who used to to make specialist powders. It closed for good in 1910.
The building photographed is the 'newest' and fartherst upstream of 6 watermills in the valley. These mills were powered via leats that either collected water diverted from the river, or in this case, collected water running off the hillside. They were used to grind down ingredients of gunpowder, e.g. charcoal, to a fine powder. Apart from a bridge downstream, the 6 mills are the only listed buildings of the many ruins in the valley.