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THE WALTHAM ABBEY ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS COMPANY LIMITED

Registered charity 1062968 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS, THE OPERATING CHARITABLE COMPANY LIMITED

The company's principal object and activity during the year was to develop and manage the site and collections of the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, provide programmes of education for schoolchildren, and open days for the general public to visit.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£1.1m
Latest spending
£1.3m
Registered
1997
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity has been wound up and its assets transferred to a related foundation, resulting in zero free reserves and a break-up basis of accounting. The trustees report that the merger was completed to address governance issues and secure future funding, with the entity ceasing trading activities.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £70,001 - £80,000 — above the median for charities its size (£70k)
“The number of employees whose annual remuneration was more than £60,000 is as follows: 2025 Number £70,001 to £80,000 1” — page 21
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 1
“The number of employees whose annual remuneration was more than £60,000 is as follows: 2025 Number £70,001 to £80,000 1” — page 21
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy
“There are therefore no free reserves or any other assets remaining in the Company after that date.” — page 6
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Going concern: accounts NOT prepared on a going-concern basis (closing, merging or winding up)
“We draw attention to Note 1.3 to the financial statements, which explains that the trustees have decided to wind up the charity after the period end and that the financial statements have therefore been prepared on a break-up basis rather than on a going concern basis.” — page 9
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donations from related charity
“The Charitable Company received donations from the Foundation of £329,164 (2023: £323,175) to support the development and management of the site and buildings at Waltham Abbey in accordance with the charitable objectives of both the Charitable Company and the Foundation.” — page 27
“During the year donations were received from the Friends Association totalling £500 (2023: £4,123).”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Donations from related charity (Friends Association)
“The Charitable Company received donations from the Foundation of £329,164 (2023: £323,175) to support the development and management of the site and buildings at Waltham Abbey in accordance with the charitable objectives of both the Charitable Company and the Foundation.” — page 27
“During the year donations were received from the Friends Association totalling £500 (2023: £4,123).”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by BK Plus Audit Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 30/06/2025)

Total income
£1.1m
Total spending
£1.3m
Reserves (reported)
£0
Employees
8

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (69% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Essex

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
30/06/2025£1.1m£1.3m
31/12/2023£556k£656k
31/12/2022£489k£653k
31/12/2021£418k£581k
31/12/2020£307k£507k

Common questions

Is THE WALTHAM ABBEY ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS COMPANY LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity has been wound up and its assets transferred to a related foundation, resulting in zero free reserves and a break-up basis of accounting. The trustees report that the merger was completed to address governance issues and secure future funding, with the entity ceasing trading activities. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by BK Plus Audit Limited.

What does the highest-paid employee of THE WALTHAM ABBEY ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS COMPANY LIMITED earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £70,001 - £80,000 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund07/02/2024£250k"Reimagining the Royal Gunpowder Mills"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund13/03/2008£123k"Arms, Technology and Society - Matchlock to Kalashnikov"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund20/04/2005£336"This Group Will Use Their Award To Hold A Range Of Activities To Celebrate Ve Day. These Activities Will Include Talks On The Period, An Exh"
The National Lottery Community Fund14/04/2005£6kWeekend Celebration
The National Lottery Heritage Fund10/06/2004£50k"Volunteers with Vision"

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE ANTHONY AND ELIZABETH MELLOWS CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT1£500k
THE MASTER CHARITABLE TRUST1£275k
THE ELIZABETH CAYZER CHARITABLE TRUST1£95k
THE ADRIAN SWIRE CHARITABLE TRUST1£74k
THE EARL FITZWILLIAM CHARITABLE TRUST1£53k
THE JOHN R. MURRAY CHARITABLE TRUST1£50k
THE ROSE FOUNDATION1£33k
THE PILGRIM TRUST1£30k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with HEUGH GUN BATTERY TRUST LIMITED.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE WALTHAM ABBEY ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS COMPANY LIMITED£1.1m£70,001 - £80,0001below—not going concern
HEUGH GUN BATTERY TRUST LIMITED FY2025£174k—0below—no doubt
THE HM TOWER OF LONDON CHAPELS ROYAL FOUNDATION FY2025£297k——unclear—no doubt
THE FRIENDS OF ABINGDON ABBEY BUILDINGS TRUST FY2024£187k—0unclear—no doubt
THE GREENWICH FOUNDATION FOR THE OLD ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE FY2025£7.2m——unclear—no doubt
WEALD AND DOWNLAND OPEN AIR MUSEUM LIMITED FY2024£3.4m——unclear—no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.