Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The works was built on land adjacent to Faversham Creek in 1924, to make high explosives. From 1934, the company manufactured explosive cartridges for use in the mining industry. The works consists of scattered wooden sheds and earthworks, with an internal tramway system. In 2006 much of the original machinery was still in use.

Monument Types

• EXPLOSIVES FACTORY (Exploded 1939, Modern - 1924 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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The Abbey Works (TR 0266 6215 GCE) were established in 1924 as a high explosives factory (1).

The works was built on land adjacent to Oare Creek fomerly used by a brick works which closed during the Great War. The founding company was Mexco Ltd, established by the owner/manager Mr A C Scott. This company produced a nitro glycerine based high explosive which was marketed under the name "Klorex", used for blasting. By 1929 the Klorex syndicate was producing both Klorex and Perklorex. In 1931 the company changed its name to Heaters Ltd, having moved away from the production of high explosives. The works from this date went over to the production of the Cardox system. The system comprises a strenghtened steel tube filled with compressed carbon dioxide both ends of which are sealed with screwed plugs or heads. Within the steel tube is a rolled paper tube containing an energiser, which when energised causes the carbon dioxide to rupture the sealing disc. The discharge from the tube is upto 17.5 tons per square inch. The tubes are used in coal mining, where there is the risk of explosions, and in civil engineering projects in Great Britain and abroad. The decline of the coal industry in Britain led to a fall in demand for Cardox system, in anticipation of a further decline in demand the works was closed by Heaters Ltd in 1966. However in the following year the works was bought by Pikrose and Company a member of the American Marmon group of companies and the manufacture of the Cardox system was resumed. In 1991 the works became Long Airdox (Cardox Ltd) part of the Marmon group. The system has remained virtually unaltered until the present day. The principal change was the conversion from the use of Heatox B to Heatox D as the energiser in 1940. This followed the only fatal explosion on the site at 8.34 am 25th march 1939 when the manager Mr J Lafraik and Messrs E Harris and A Boorman were killed in an explosion involving Heatox B. Mr P H Goldsmith, a technician at the works since 1932 took over as manager. The works enjoyed special privileges in regards to the procurement of chemicals during the war, as its products were vital for the coal mining industry. The works also maintained its own Home Guard unit and preparations were made for the destruction of the works in the event of a sucessful invasion. Between 1940 and 1970 a total of 60 million heaters were made and sold, an average of around 200,000 per month. During this period the number of staff employed averaged 75 - 85. The works is situated on the E arm of Oare Creek about 1 km to the NE of Faversham town centre. The works occupies 6.026 hectares surrounded by a a chain link fence. The works is arranged around an internal tramway system which is used to move material from shed to shed on a hand pushed trolley. Traces of the former extent of the system may be traced as low earthworks in the W part of the site. Slight earthworks in this area also mark the positions of demolished sheds. Some sheds were moved to the higher E ground in the early 1950s after flooding, others have been lost due to contraction of the works. The low earthworks to the NW of shed 5 mark the site of the shed destroyed in the 1939 explosion. The works occupies a series of dispersed wooden sheds constructed for the high explosives factory in 1924, some of which have been refurbished. The specialised machinery in use within the sheds is that installed during the late 1920s and 1930s when the works began production of the Cardox system. Many of the sheds retain an external serving hatch (see RCHME photo BB91/25857) through which material could be passed to and from the tramway trolley. The most substantial buildings on the site are three expense magazines of which only one magazine remains in use. These magazines are brick built with cement rendered walls roofed with corrugated iron with a central air vent. The magazines have a single entrance. An inventory of the buildings is included in the NMR archive (1).

Additional reference (2,3).

Site photographs (4,5).

<1> RCHME, 1991, Abbey Works Survey RCHME Catalogue Number 2674, Wayne Cocroft/19-NOV-1991/RCHME: Faversham's Explosives Industry. (Unpublished document). SKE11921.

<2> Filmar, P. 19-NOV-1991/Manager Longairdox (Cardox) (OS Card Reference). SKE43420.

<3> RCHME/NMR, 1996, RCHME : Faversham Explosives Industry (Collection). SKE6479.

<4> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9615.

<5> 1979, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11424.

Sources and further reading