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Sanitary arrangements were still primitive in the reign of Henry Vlll and latrines were dug out at night by dung farmers and scavengers, but in the reign of Elizabeth l they were superseded by officials dignified by the name of Royal Saltpetre Men, who collected excrement specifically for the making of gunpowder. This was manufactured using a formula of 75parts 75 parts saltpetre, 15parts 15 parts carbon (charcoal) and 10parts 10 parts sulphur, or brimstone as it was once called. This last name is very evocative as the bright yellow sulphur was indeed collected in lumps from the brims of volcanoes in extremely hazardous conditions. The first two materials produced the explosion and the third added ignition and consistency to the grains of black powder which was milled to the size of corn, hence the name 'corned' powder, as opposed to fine powder. Fine powder was needed to prime the cannons and was also used for small arms.<br />

The quantities of gunpowder loaded onto an 80 gun ship varied according to the theatre of war but would be about 288 barrels of cannon powder and 41 barrels of fine powder<gallery caption= widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="3">File:0080 Weir.jpeg|WeirFile:0081 Millstone. Each barrel weighed 90lbsjpeg|MillstoneFile:0082 Millstones. Gunpowder was not used loose, but made up into cartridges, first jpeg|MillstonesFile:0083 Remains of parchment and later wharf.jpeg|Remains of special cartridge paperwharfFile:0084 Mill. The method of priming a cannon was as followsjpeg|MillFile: The cartridge 0085 Remains of gunpowder would be placed down the muzzle, rammed home using a ramrod, wadded, and then the cannonball similarly. A sharp-pointed metal rod would be inserted into the vent to pierce the cartridge Corning House and the vent would then be filled up with fine powderMixing House. A portfire rod would be used to ignite the fine powder in the vent. This in turn ignited the cartridge, the resultant heat causing the gasses generated to speedily build up into an explosive power sufficient to propel the cannonball up the barrel towards the target at high speed. The optimum amount jpeg|Remains of gunpowder needed per cartridge for a 32pdr. cannon would be 14lbs. (1 stone). Any excess could such a massive build-up of gasses in the barrel thereby risking the destruction of the cannon Corning House and probably most of those attending upon it.Mixing House<br /gallery>

The quantities of gunpowder loaded onto an 80 gun ship varied according to the theatre of war but would be about 288 barrels of cannon powder and 41 barrels of fine powder. Each barrel weighed 90lbs. Gunpowder was not used loose, but made up into cartridges, first of parchment and later of special cartridge paper. The method of priming a cannon was as follows: The cartridge of gunpowder would be placed down the muzzle, rammed home using a ramrod, wadded, and then the cannonball similarly. A sharp-pointed metal rod would be inserted into the vent to pierce the cartridge and the vent would then be filled up with fine powder. A portfire rod would be used to ignite the fine powder in the vent. This in turn ignited the cartridge, the resultant heat causing the gases generated to speedily build up into an explosive power sufficient to propel the cannonball up the barrel towards the target at high speed. The optimum amount of gunpowder needed per cartridge for a 32pdr. cannon would be 14lbs. (1 stone). Any excess could such a massive build-up of gases in the barrel thereby risking the destruction of the cannon and probably most of those attending upon it.<br /> The gunpowder mills at Chilworth near Guildford were founded by the East India Company in 1625. They were forced to leave their previous site near Woolwich because frequent explosive accidents caused havoc among the local population. There were, of course, accidents at Chilworth but it was not a heavily populated area. On one occasion a spark from a workman's hobnailed boot striking on a stone path caused an explosion which killed six men. The mills used the fast-flowing Tillingbourne stream to power the heavy grinding stones of the incorporating process. There were many stages involved in the manufacture and thus it was very labour-intensive. As far as the ingredients were concerned, local alder trees provided the finest charcoal, sulphur was imported from Sicily, and saltpetre imported from India cost £45 per ton. A sufficient supply to last seven years in July 1752 cost £9,000. The discovery that saltpetre could be manufactured from earth gathered from dovecots, to which dung, urine and lime were added, meant that it could be collected locally.