The Great Explosion, 1916

At about one o-clock on Sunday, 2nd April 1916, as families were sitting down to dinner in Faversham, there was a very loud explosion ………people ran out of their houses wondering what had happened ………. The explosion was heard as far away as Norwich in Norfolk, and in France. The site of the explosion was the Guncotton factory at Uplees on the Swale estuary, 3 miles from Faversham. Although the actual number killed is not known for certain, it is likely that the death toll was 108. – for 69 coffins – had to be dug at the cemetery in Love Lane; another 6 victims were buried in private graves at the cemetery. All 75 were explosives factory employees.

The Oare Works is now a country park, open to the public free of charge all year round. Remains of process houses have been conserved.