Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park
For the third Sunday in a row we were feeling adventurous and so this time set off to Faversham for yet another thundery exploration.
We want to visit the hidden history spots off the beaten path, but finding such history is a lot harder than it looks. For the moment we're enjoying churches and churchyards, local ruins which aren't bothered with, over the mass marketed sites. While of course we enjoy them too, it's not the same as exploring something which our direct family might have come across a few years back.
We came across this one half an hour before we set off on our adventure. We knew we wanted to go somewhere, but finding the place that hit the spot was hard. It was by pure chance that a quick Google led to this one, and it was the best 2 hour walking trail we've experienced so far. There is so much abandoned history here, not to mention it being a great dog walking spot!
The works are sometimes known as Davington Wood Mills, consisted of lodgings, machine storage, factory works, and other buildings closer to the stream in order to take advantage of the water power. In use since the early 18th century, Oare Works manufactured gunpowder (obviously) and had a fair few accidents in its time. Despite not being owned by any government body or powerful overheads and instead individuals with an interest, this little manufactures just off from Faversham were responsible for making 36 of the gunpowder barrels used by Guy Fawkes in his daring attempt to kill the king and blow up the Houses of Parliament.
It was later on that the works were unified under John Hall's ownership and then later in 1920 it was absorbed into an umbrella holding company, Nobel Industries LTD, spurned on from WW1. The site continued to run right up until 1936 even after NILTD merged into the Imperial Chemical Industries and was the largest manufacturer of gunpowder in Great Britain.
Now this substance was highly explosive, and when we were at the works there is a little museum dedicated to the history of the place, this includes some of the gorier history. On the wall is several newspaper articles regarding the explosions and subsequent deaths which took place here, many of them tragic, a few of the men horrifically young. A recreation of an explosive scene from 1867 can be seen here: "Scene of the powder explosion at the Oare Works, near Faversham" - Archive Catalogue
This place has a canal, repurposed lake, abandoned buildings, walking trails, maps, and wildlife galore! However, we visited in the middle of a thunderstorm and so we got wet, so very, very wet. This wasn't the worst thing however, no, the worst thing was Lauren getting attacked by something spiritual so that both her and Yogi who was with her at the time got a little scared.
We'd gone over to explore the 1926 Incorporating Mills and were just walking towards the lake on the red trail when Jamie had stopped to take a photo, he turned to talk to Lauren who could hear footsteps but when we both looked around no one was nearby. She was just turning back to talk to Jamie when she flinched massively and both her and the dog jumped away. What had happened was the squelchy footsteps had stopped behind her and then something screamed in her ear and slapped on her hood causing her to flinch and jump away. Both her and Yogi were a little on edge after that, but luckily it was towards the end of the trip so we'd already taken a peek into all the buildings and likely disturbed something.
We took the red trail but veered off to explore as much as we could including The Corning House which wasn't on our route. There are a few different paths to take here depending on walking ability and interest, but the red one appealed to us most as it was the one which hit most of the buildings. We did have to double back to the green route so then we could see the testing area, and that gave us unwelcome vibes straight away.
Most of the buildings here are ruined, but there are a few which have been restored and still hold machinery in a lookback to the past which we thought was pretty cool. This is 100% a hidden gem as we had no idea it existed but we were glad we came across it and to be fair the weather just added to the atmosphere, we really felt like we were on an adventure.
We would come back for sure, probably on a calmer day, as we'd love to walk around this site again. It's a good area for a picnic, some learning, and just a dog walk. We'd try out a different route to see if we'd missed anything, there are several hours easily to be spent here!
Overall though, the damp, ruinous buildings give off a very unsettling feel. They weren't destroyed, just a case of being knocked down or falling down over the years, but then again several people did die here across the years and it does give the vibe of a murderer lurking within the overgrowth. There's a lot of character here is what we are getting at, a lot of unknowns. Nature has tried hard to reclaim everything here and there is already a lack of information, but it was very interesting learning of the connections of Faversham and such an unknown little spot in the woods to one of the biggest historical plots in England.
DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source..
If you have any recommendations on places to visit or somewhere you would like to see on the blog, please feel free to drop us a message on instagram under @phantomadventuresuk or email us at phantomadventuresuk@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment