Faversham, Kent: Considered Worst Disaster in Explosives Industry

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On the afternoon of Sunday, 2 April 1916, more than a hundred men and boys were killed by a huge blast at an explosives factory near Faversham. The force of the blast shattered windows across the Thames estuary in Southend and the tremor was felt as far away as Norwich. It is thought to be the worst disaster in the history of the UK’s explosives industry. However, very little detail was given about the accident in local and national media at the time, and many of the dead were buried in a mass grave in the local cemetery four days later. It was thought that too much publicity would be detrimental to the war effort. Today, at Faversham Borough Cemetery at Ladydene, a memorial with the names of all those who were killed is still a prominent local landmark as historians John Breeze and Arthur Percival, explains. Location: Love Lane Cemetry, Faversham, Kent ME13 8BJ Photograph of the explosion courtesy of Dr Arthur Percival Presented by Jenny Barsby