Explosive Stores

The Thames Storage (Explosives) Company leased the land from the Dean and Chapter of Rochester Cathedral in 1892 with the intention of building magazines for the purpose of storage, packing and repacking of gunpowder.

The land was ideal due to being on the river which enabled the transport of gunpowder to London and out of the Thames.

A number of rectangular, slate roofed and concrete walled magazines surrounded by bunds were constructed and the site was also served by its own landing stage nearby.

The isolated location proved to be beneficial when on 29th July 1905 one of the 7 magazines exploded, it appears this magazine was reconstructed but by 1907 Thames Storage (Explosives) Company had gone into liquidation.

The site was subsequently taken over by the government before going out of use in 1913 possibly due to the expiry of the lands lease.

Today the 7 magazines survive albeit without their slate roofs and internal fixtures and fittings. The defensive bunds around each magazine have also somewhat survived. Nature has slowly reclaimed the magazines with the majority now having foliage growing within them.