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Visiting the Site of One of the Worst Explosions in British History | Faversham Munitions Explosion

Tom Macklaw

312,670 views

On the 2nd of April 1916, a catastrophic explosion tore through a munitions factory in Faversham, Kent — killing over 100 workers and sending shockwaves across southern England. One of Britain’s deadliest industrial accidents, the tragedy has since faded into relative obscurity.

In this documentary, I delve into the full story of the Faversham munitions explosion — what caused it, who was affected, and how the town remembers its dead. I visit the actual site of the disaster, explore what remains today, and pay my respects at the memorial to those who lost their lives.

From archival records to on-location footage, this is a haunting look at a wartime tragedy that deserves to be remembered.

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Photos from Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park

📌 Tags:
Faversham Explosion 1916, Kent munitions disaster, WW1 home front, British industrial accidents, Faversham history, gunpowder factory explosion, British wartime tragedies, forgotten history UK, historical documentary, true disaster stories

20 Comments

@JonathanTodhunter 1 year ago

The Managing Director of CPC was my grandfather Ben Todhunter. It so affected him that he resigned and became an ambulance driver with the French Army at the Somme.

@alumycrick2911 1 year ago (edited)

The gunpowder factory workers were no more "hiding from enlistment" than skilled engineering workers or coal mining labourers. These people were not only exempt from military conscription, they were not even allowed to volunteer. In fact, men with the skills that were critically required for war production who had enlisted early on in the initial flush of patriotic enthusiasm, before the comprehensive and strictly discerning system of reserved occupational categories came into effect, were compulsorily recalled from the armed forces and returned to the duties in which they were of greatest value to the overall national war effort.

@simonlinger1967 1 year ago

Thanks Tom. My great grandfather was 61 and was killed in the explosion on 2nd April and buried the mass grave at Faversham. As the inscription says:
"Sacred to the memory of the men who died in the service of their country 2nd April, 1916
May they enter in thy gracious keeping
Leave we now thy servants sleeping"

@delboy1727 1 year ago (edited)

Having visited the site, and the communal burial plot in Faversham cemetery, I was waiting for someone to make a video about this event, to bring a relatively unknown story to a wider audience.

@asfcboys6317 1 year ago

Should be a national monument to all the victims of these accidents.

@noggin48 1 year ago

Thanks for bringing this disaster to the Publics attention, where loss of life takes place, it's imperative that the dead are remembered and not forgotten!

@knowlesy3915 10 months ago

For "just a guy with a camera" you do your research, and go into a lot of detail. Subbed.

@JohnDivers-e1u 1 year ago

Faversham is my home town as a child knew a couple of survivors of the explosions most of the town knew the story also in a short spell working for the council i used to tend the mass grave at the cemetery

@Marmadukeflash 1 year ago

There is a museum at Oare gunpowder works Faversham that explains all this with lots of items from this explosion. But this is a great Video.

@baz-wc4fi 1 year ago (edited)

Very surprised there's no memorial to the Dead at the Site due to the bodies that were never Found? Got to be an eerie place! I myself worked for Nobels Explosives in the 70s at a Site similar to this on the Coast of Scotland and I assure you the Equipment and buildings used were the same as from the First World War !! Good Story

@maverickdisco4036 1 year ago

Thanks for this, I worked in an explosive factory for many years and have never heard of this incident before. Excellent presentation.

@rf9413 1 year ago

Raptor sheep are but one of the perils of documentary making Tom. Thank you for your service 😊

@thomaslaw9764 1 year ago (edited)

I come from Faversham. Several of the factories have massive blast walls that you can go and see. One you can go and visit has a huge waterwheel and grinding stones that date back to Shakeperian times. In Oare Churchyard there are some incredible gravemarkers with unbelieveable inscriptions. There are ruins in Faversham that date back to Roman times. Indeed to get where you did you will have unbeknowingly driven through the center of a Roman fort. Stupid amount of history in Faversham. The Beer is good too.

@robinrichey935 1 year ago (edited)

Mr Macklaw, a masterful production! All amateur YouTube “history “ producers need to study this professionally assembled feature. NO phony cgi debris over still photos while the video camera moves about to pretend it is a real video. Sir, this is the Gold Standard for YouTube audiences to judge whether a video production as TRUSTWORTHY . Thank you for your PROFESSIONALISM. You treat Yourself AND Your Audience with RESPECT. Thank You Sir.🫡

@stevewaite6461 1 year ago

Sidney Wilson was my grandfather on my mums side, he passed in the 1960's in Willesden Middlesex now Greater London.

@infinitesky-59 1 year ago (edited)

I lived at Faversham for 16 years and visited the Marshes countless times over the years to walk my dogs but never knew the full tragic story until now. Very informative, thanks.

@keith800 1 year ago

This is so interesting and this should get the recognition it deserves .

@diannegooding8733 1 year ago

My grandfather worked there and because of not being enlisted he was issued with a metal badge saying “On war service” with appropriate marking and a number!

@radiosnail 1 year ago

I'd heard of the Faversham explosion but only remember that the entire on site fire brigade perished. I'd heard of an explosion at an explosives factory at Joyce Green in Kent blowing a hole in the river defences. As a child, you could still see the blast banks. But iccan find no record of an explosion destroying the defences, only of a flood in 1950 cusing an explosion at a fireworks factory.

@bob_the_bomb4508 1 year ago

There’s a large demolition range out on the mud flats at Shoeburyness in Essex.

They have to be careful of weather conditions- if there’s a temperature inversion or low cloud detonating a 1000lb aircraft bomb could risk taking out windows in Herne Bay in Kent, the other side of the Thames Estuary.