Crushing Mills
IMG_1618
Crushing Mills, Powder Mills gunpowder factory, Dartmoor, Devon, GBR.
The Powder Mills gunpowder factory on Dartmoor, established in 1844 by George Frean—an alderman of Plymouth—was founded under the Plymouth and Dartmoor Gunpowder Company on land at Cherrybrook Farm. It was strategically sited for its remoteness, central access to markets, and reliable water supply from the Cherry Brook and East Dart rivers, used to power three water wheels via an innovative system of leats and reservoirs. Now a Grade II Listed site of national significance, it comprises at least 18 buildings formerly used for the manufacture, storage, and management of gunpowder, though most roofs and machinery have since been lost.
The factory met strong regional demand from local mining complexes like Birch Tor, quarries including Swell Tor, Foggintor, and Merrivale, and from agricultural rock clearance. It produced blackpowder using imported saltpetre and sulphur, and locally sourced charcoal made from alder, willow, juniper, and birch. The complex production process—grinding, incorporation, pressing, corning, dusting, and drying—was largely powered by water-driven machinery. The gunpowder was packed in oak barrels and distributed to depots in Tavistock, Exeter, and Plymouth.
Designed with safety in mind, the site featured widely spaced, lightly roofed buildings to reduce blast impact. In addition to its industrial heritage, the site includes significant prehistoric features, such as a Bronze Age hut circle settlement, enclosures, and a cairn. This rare combination of industrial and prehistoric remains makes Powder Mills an exceptional and nationally important heritage landscape.
‘Powder Mills – Gunpowder Factory’. Accessed 16 May 2025. dartmoorexplorations.co.uk/powder-mills-gunpowder-factory/.
Sandles, Tim. ‘Dartmoor’s Powder Mills’. Accessed 18 May 2025. www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/2017/09/01/dartmoors-powder-m....
Crushing Mills
IMG_1618
Crushing Mills, Powder Mills gunpowder factory, Dartmoor, Devon, GBR.
The Powder Mills gunpowder factory on Dartmoor, established in 1844 by George Frean—an alderman of Plymouth—was founded under the Plymouth and Dartmoor Gunpowder Company on land at Cherrybrook Farm. It was strategically sited for its remoteness, central access to markets, and reliable water supply from the Cherry Brook and East Dart rivers, used to power three water wheels via an innovative system of leats and reservoirs. Now a Grade II Listed site of national significance, it comprises at least 18 buildings formerly used for the manufacture, storage, and management of gunpowder, though most roofs and machinery have since been lost.
The factory met strong regional demand from local mining complexes like Birch Tor, quarries including Swell Tor, Foggintor, and Merrivale, and from agricultural rock clearance. It produced blackpowder using imported saltpetre and sulphur, and locally sourced charcoal made from alder, willow, juniper, and birch. The complex production process—grinding, incorporation, pressing, corning, dusting, and drying—was largely powered by water-driven machinery. The gunpowder was packed in oak barrels and distributed to depots in Tavistock, Exeter, and Plymouth.
Designed with safety in mind, the site featured widely spaced, lightly roofed buildings to reduce blast impact. In addition to its industrial heritage, the site includes significant prehistoric features, such as a Bronze Age hut circle settlement, enclosures, and a cairn. This rare combination of industrial and prehistoric remains makes Powder Mills an exceptional and nationally important heritage landscape.
‘Powder Mills – Gunpowder Factory’. Accessed 16 May 2025. dartmoorexplorations.co.uk/powder-mills-gunpowder-factory/.
Sandles, Tim. ‘Dartmoor’s Powder Mills’. Accessed 18 May 2025. www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/2017/09/01/dartmoors-powder-m....