1800 - 1850

Oare Gunpowder Works, including all the buildings and ponds, were sold to John Hall in 1812 and by 1844 the upper and lower gunpowder works were combined as a single factory.

In 1846 John Hall & Son obtained the patent rights to the manufacture of guncotton, much more powerful than gunpowder and only invented that year, and built the first guncotton factory in the world on the Marsh Works site. However, following a disastrous explosion in July 1847, the guncotton factory was immediately closed and the new invention was not taken up anywhere for ten years.

The company trademark was a seagull carrying a stick of explosive and the motto - IN TUMULTIBUS ME VIDEBIS - which can be loosely translated as ‘Whenever there is trouble we are around’.

Improvements had been made to the Oare Works in the 1840s, under the guidance of William Hall, and these are known to have included the new Corning House in about 1845 and then the refurbishment of the Glazing House before 1865.

The Corning House was built in about 1845 and was originally powered by a waterwheel which drove the machinery at least until 1899.

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Things You Can Do
Visit Oare Gunpowder Works
Change Through Time
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Faversham Society

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