Discover a purpose built ammunition store constructed in 1749 to provide safe storage of explosives required by the military garrison at the Barracks. Far enough away in case of accidents but still close enough to reach!
Previous storage arrangements in the flankers of the Brass Bastion proved unsatisfactory during preparations for an expected attack by the Jacobite forces in 1745 when most of the gunpowder was discovered to be damp and unusable. The new Magazine incorporated features designed to ensure protection against damp and potential explosion. It is built of local sandstone and is surrounded by a high wall. The walls of the vaulted, windowless structure are reinforced by eight heavy buttresses, intended to direct the explosion safely upwards. There are ventilators above the entrance steps that allow air to circulate, protecting the powder from damp. The building has a double-skinned roof and the main internal safety feature is the total absence of iron to avoid any possibility of a spark igniting the gunpowder. Among the interesting internal features are the original wooden racks.