Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Cement works- post medieval at Cliffe Creek, alongside a Whiting works on one site?

Monument Types

• CEMENT WORKS (est in 1860's, closed by 1908, Post Medieval to Modern - 1860 AD to 1908 AD (between))

Full description

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Empson, Holcombe & Co. ran a works at The Pottery, Cliffe from the 1860's. In 1886 it merged with Francis, Donald & Johnson, Whiting manufacturers at Cliffe. In 1870 the works consisted of two principal blocks of buildings with an irregularly laid-out group of 10 wash backs on their eastern side. The Whiting works was situated just to the west by the creek wharf and the pottery works to the south. A canal linked the site to a quarry further inland (TQ 77 NW 123). By 1898 the works was served by a tramway running alongside the disused canal (TQ 77 NW 124). The buildings seem to have been substantially altered by this time. Some eight kilns had been erected on the former site of the pottery works and the Canal Tavern built near the quayside. The works had closed by 1908 and only one main building, with a few small units, was standing. The site has now been mostly levelled but the base of a possible kiln bank can be seen with an engine base and brick-lined tank nearby. Other remains are almost certainly buried nearby (1 and 11)

Site indicated on OS map from at least the 1860's when the works were built (2). Site photographs (3-8).
The works are now largely demolished, the quayside is still mostly intact, there are concrete foundations in places, largely overgrown with grasses, brambles and shrub. (9)

Additional information (10).Whiting Works (or Whitening works) took pulverized chalk and used it in whitewash, putty and cheap white paint. Surrounded by clay extraction pits for the industry (10).

There are four separate elements to this site, which are listed below according to grid reference.
TQ 5714 1768 Whiting Works.These were in existence by at least 1818 when chalk was being taken from the quarry to the Creek by horse drawn punt to be used to make whiting. The ownership at the time was in the hands of Col. Charles Binney. [ Kent Archive U2191.T.10; Medway Archive DRC LA3/57]. The whiting works appear to have fallen into the hands of Johnson and Co, directories of the 1880s styling I C Johnson as a cement and whiting Manufacturer at Stone and Cliffe.The whiting works probably closed very soon after 1886 when all the works in the area were merged with Francis and Co.
The only trace of these works is the remains of concrete flooring [2008]
TQ 5714 1768 Pottery.There was a pottery at this site by at least 1818 on land owned by the Comport family and then Col. Charles Binney [Kent Archive U2191.T.10]. The pottery utilised clay dug in the vicinity, and possibly also produced bricks and tiles. The Pottery site was cleared c1880, and replaced by cement works operated by Emson, Holcombe and Co, which was a partnership between R E Middleton, a water engineer, and Capt W H Francis, brother of P O Francis who later became chairman of Francis and Co. The works were designed by Vitale de Michele, son of Charles de Michele a partner in Francis and Co., and were probably semi obsolete by the time they were constructed. From the OS second addition there would appear to be a block of six bottle kilns, and two further detached bottle kilns. The chalk for the works would appear to have been supplied by tramway from the southern sector of the Quarry via a spur off the Francis tramway [TQ 77 NW 124]. The firm amalgamated with Francis and Co and Johnson Whiting in 1886. The works probably closed c1900.The only trace[2008] of these works is the remains of some concrete floors.
TQ 5715 1769 Johnson's Cement Works.In 1853 Isaac Johnson leased half an acre from Lord Darnley at the Creek to erect cement works for the manufacture of Portland Cement. His partner in the venture was John Osmotherly, a farmer and brickmaker of Courtsole, Cliffe. The 21 year lease also allowed for brick and tile making, and for digging mud, in the Creek and one acre outside the sea wall. The second edition OS shows the tramway extending into the Creek to the north of the site.The first partnership proved unprofitable, and sometime after 1856 Johnson went into partnership with John Poynter and operated as Johnson and Co. Land for a tramway to the quarry was leased to replace the movement of chalk by punt on the canal [TQ 77 NW 140]. The lease was renewed for 21 years in 1874-5, but without the approval for brick making. Between 1873 and c1880 Johnson was negotiating for land at Greenhithe and erecting new works there. By 1885 the lease appears to have been in the hands of John Poynter, who in 1888 assigned the lease of three and a half acres including the cement works to Francis and Co.The works probably closed very soon after Francis and Co joined the APCM merger in 1900.
Part of the site has been used to dump concrete rubble after work on the seawall, which appears to cover the wash back area. There are some extensive concrete floors, but no visible remains of kilns. A wall standing to about a metre partly encloses the north and west sides of a once large building.[2008]
TQ 57150 17689 The Canal Tavern. In 1881 Alfred Francis leased from Lord Darnley [U565 E15] one acre of land near the old pottery. This was almost certainly for the erection of the Canal Tavern, to tap into the thirst of the many bargees who came into the Creek to load cement, Francis is listed as a beer retailer in the 1882 Kelly's Directory.The tavern remained in operation while the Creek was utilised by the barge traffic. Photographs exist at Medway Study Centre.
There are some traces of wall at this location which probably relate to the tavern, but the remains of a tank (water) probably relate to the former pottery/cement works. (12)

This feature is recorded in the English Heritage Historic Area Assessment for Cliffe Parish. The report states:
"Chalk had been quarried at this location since Saxon times, and by the early 1940s production had intensified: a Whiting works, where chalk was pulverized for use in whitewash and putty was established in the early 19th century on the banks of Cliffe Creek, which was linked to quarries near Manor Farm by means of a canal. A short-lived small-scale venture in Portland cement by IC Johnson followed in 1853 but the works started by Francis and Company in the late 1860s on the same site were larger and longer-lasting, bringing a new prosperity to the parish. An offshoot of firm’s business at Nine Elms, Vauxhall, London, the Cliffe Creek works grew rapidly under the supervision of the young engineer Vitale de Michelle (1848-1906) manufacturing Portland cement with the brand name ‘Nine Elms’ as well as Roman, Medina and Parian cement, Portland stucco, Plaster of Paris, shipping chalk, flints and fire bricks. The works were a conspicuous feature from both landward and seaward vantages with rows of smoking bottle kilns, a 156-foot high stayed chimney and an elaborate series of tramways that complemented the canal. In 1886 Francis & Company amalgamated with other local firms including Empson, Holcombe and Company but a further amalgamation in 1900 with 23 other firms to form Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers marked the onset of decline at the Francis works which finally wound up in 1920. However in 1910 Thames Portland opened its works on an adjacent site bringing continuous local employment until the late 20th century." (13)

<1> AJ Francis, History of the Cement Industry 1796-1914, Page Nos. 173 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6454.

<2> N/A, Ordnance Survey Map. Old Monarch record with attached monuments, OS 1ST, 2ND,3RD & 4TH ED. 1868,1897,1909 & 1933 (Map). SKE6458.

<3> 1941, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10110.

<4> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9776.

<5> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9775.

<6> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9635.

<7> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9449.

<8> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9425.

<9> Wessex Archaeology, 2005, North Kent Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey: Phase ll: Field Assessment Year Two Report (Unpublished document). SWX12323.

<10> Barnes, B. and Innes, B., 1984, A nineteenth Century Cement Works at Cliffe (Article in serial). SWX7719.

<11> Eve, David., 1999, The Cement Industry in Kent: Results of a Sites and Monuments Record Enhancement Project 1996 - 98 (Unpublished document). SKE12011.

<12> Jim Preston Personal Communication (Verbal communication). SKE13236.

<13> historic england, 2014, Hoo Peninsula Outline Historic Area Assessment: Cliffe and Cliffe Woods Parish. Research Report 2014-54 (Bibliographic reference). SKE31591.

Sources and further reading

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