Royal Wharf hosts Silvertown explosion centenary

The Silvertown explosion in 1917 was the largest blast ever to occur in London when 50 tonnes of TNT blew up at a local purifying factory, killing 73 people and damaging over 70,000 local properties.

At precisely 6.52 pm on January 19, 2017, a two-minute silence took place at a special centenary commemoration to mark the site of the disaster at Royal Wharf in Newham, east London.

The ceremony heard from historian Malcolm Graham, Sir Hugo Brunner, the great-grandson of JT Brunner, chairman of Brunner Mond, owners of the factory where the explosion took place, Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham and John Mulryan, MD of Ballymore UK, developers of Royal Wharf.

This short film is the first in a new series called #ballymorestories about the people and places behind our projects.

The full story of the Silvertown Explosion can be read here.