Building record TR 06 SW 1510 - Meal Rooms, Marsh Gunpowder Works

A building known as 'Meal Rooms' at Marsh Gunpowder Works. 'Its purpose is unclear as its late date and interior fittings imply a staff welfare area, whilst the use of the name ‘meal’ is synonymous with milled materials and with gunpowder processing'. The date of construction is unclear, but it was in existence by 1937 at the latest. It is the only building in the central clusted that is not a Listed Building. (1)

The meal rooms at the Marsh Gunpowder Works, constructed by 1806 and shown on a plan of the works by Nobelsv Explosives Co. Ltd in 1920 as building 79. A survey as part of the RCHME Faversham's Explosives Industry Project in in 1991 found the building to be extant (Building 8 - RCHME ground photography negative reference 164/K/14). The building was of a single-storey, rectangular on plan, measuring 17.8 metres by 11.8 metre and constructed of brick. The roof was gabled, the trusses were composite comprising a timber tie beam and struts with an iron king post and ties connecting diagonally from the base of the king post to the outer walls. The roof was boarded and covered by tar paper. The building was lit by four windows ranged along the long walls. Internally the building was divided by a central wall that rose to eaves height. The building was entered through a covered brick porch at its northwest end. This too was divided into two, giving access into either half of the building. The entrance at the southeast end had been blocked. The reasons for this division was unclear. One side may lie on the `clean' side of the factory while the other lies on the `dirty' side, or it may separate a men's dining
area from the women's.

Historic England archive material: 662290 Faversham Explosives Industry, Kent In 1991, RCHME Keele carried out a basic investigation of the remains of the gunpowder and explosives industry in Faversham as a background to the Oare Gunpowder Works survey and to enhance the NMR record.Contents : 4 plans, ground photography, 68 prints, supporting materialCondition : SATISFACTORY
943688 Marsh Gunpowder Works/ink survey Antiquity Model: Surveyed

Historic England archive material: 662290 Faversham Explosives Industry, Kent In 1991, RCHME Keele carried out a basic investigation of the remains of the gunpowder and explosives industry in Faversham as a background to the Oare Gunpowder Works survey and to enhance the NMR record.Contents : 4 plans, ground photography, 68 prints, supporting materialCondition : SATISFACTORY
943688 Marsh Gunpowder Works/ink survey Antiquity Model: Surveyed

<1> Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd, 2019, Historic Building Recording of the Marsh Gunpowder Works within the Former Oare Mineral Works, Faversham, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE54278.