A Gunpowder plot:The Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey

摘要

The site at Waltham Abbey has been involved in the manufacture and development of explosives for over 300 years.The first definitive reference to gunpowder mills at Waltham Abbey is contained in Thomas Fuller's"History of the Worthies of England"published in 1662.He was a curate at the Waltham Abbey Church and wrote that"there is more gunpowder made by mills of late erected on the River Ley,betwixt Waltham and London,than in all England besides"Initially in private hands from the middle of the 17th century it was purchased by the Crown in 1787,becoming the Royal Gunpowder Factory under the leadership of Lt.General Sir William Congreve and later,under his son,also named William,of Congreve rocket fame.