Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Building recording on the extant features within at the OMYA Croxton and Garry Whiting Plant site to the north of London Road, Swanscombe, Kent. The east entrance into the quarry was identified and is set within the quarried chalk cliff face supporting Lover’s Lane above. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• TUNNEL (Modern - 1989 AD? to 2050 AD?)

Full description

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Building recording on the extant features within at the OMYA Croxton and Garry Whiting Plant site to the north of London Road, Swanscombe, Kent. The east entrance into the quarry was identified and is set within the quarried chalk cliff face supporting Lover’s Lane above. The east – west aligned western tunnel is thought to have been constructed between 1898 and 1908 as part of a wider westwards expansion of the Swanscombe Cement Works. The tunnel would have served as a tramway, connecting the site with a former chalk quarry site to the west of Lover’s Lane, an area which has since been redeveloped for housing. The elevation is of yellow brick construction interspersed with overfired bricks of a mottled grey appearance. The eastern end of the tunnel remains open to the exterior for a depth of 4m. Overall, the interior comprises a rectangular area measuring 4.10m in width by >18.60m in length, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling rising to a height of 3.50m. The walls and ceiling are constructed in the stretcher-bonded yellow brickwork of the same type observed externally. There is evidence to suggest that this tunnel may have been utilised as an informal air-raid shelter during WWII, much like others recorded in the vicinity. Its conversion entailed the subdivision of the interior into three parts, to form a shelter whose end walls were recessed within either end of the tunnel, and the insertion of a hatch and ladder shaft accessible from Lover’s Lane above. A metal escape hatch and air vents were also inserted within the eastern face. (1-2)

<1> CgMs, 2019, Historic building record, Land at London Road, Swanscombe, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE53085.

<2> Archaeology South-East, 2005, An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment and Walkover Survey of Land adjacent to London Road and Craylands Lane (Little Swanscombe), Swanscombe, Kent (March 2005) (Unpublished document). SKE31035.

<3> Archaeology South-East, 2019, Land to the north of London Road, Swanscombe, Kent, Historic Building Recording, Historic England Level 2 (Unpublished document). SKE53509.

Sources and further reading

Related records