Monument record 4236 - Gunpowder Works at Thelwall

<1> W D Cocroft, 2000, Dangerous Energy - The Archaeology of Gunpowder and Military Explosives Manufacture, p.276 no.024 (Book). SCH4464.

1758-1855, gunpowder works.

<2> Burdett, P. P., 1777, A Survey of the County Palatine of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH113.

Depicts and labels 'powder mills'.

<3> Bryant, A., 1831, Map of the County Palatine of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH2114.

Depicts and labels 'powder mills'.

<4> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 390/2 1845 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

This map depicts the powder mills and the associated weir across the River Mersey. The head race is initially orientated at ninety degrees to the course of the river. Two mills are located adjacent to the southern side of the head race. The head race curves round the site to another mill located to the south of the other two mill buildings. The tail races from all three mills combine before feeding back into the river below the weir. In addition to the mill buildings, there are six other buildings depicted as part of the complex. The largest is a long building built adjacent to the weir and river. The award describes this plot as ‘gunpowder mills, water courses and yard’. A further building, a house, is depicted to the immediate east of the site in a plot described as ‘Powder Mill field and a cottage and garden’. Both are owned and occupied by James Stanton.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ6588, 1874-1875 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

This map depicts a large building adjacent to the weir. It is labelled ‘Powder Mill (Disused)’. The cottage and two adjacent buildings depicted on the tithe map (see 4) are also extant. No further buildings or any of the leats are depicted.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ6588, 1898 (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

The only evidence for the mills depicted on this map is the weir, named 'Woolston Weir' and one of the buildings that was adjacent to the cottage.

<7> The GeoInformation Group, 2005, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review, 106G UK 622 10/08/1945 (Aerial Photograph). SCH4608.

The area is now in use as a dredging disposal site. Only the weir remains.