Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Chalk quarry immediately north-east of the North Kent line and south of Northfleet High Street. In use by the later 19th century, supplying, in tandem with further pits to the west at Bakers Hole, etc, the Whites Portland Cement Works to the north of the railway. The quarries were linked via tramways which ran through tunnels below the railway line to the south and below the High Street to the north. This tennel was used as an air raid shelter throughout the Second World War. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• TRAMWAY TUNNEL (Post Medieval to Modern - 1865 AD? to 2050 AD (post))
• AIR RAID SHELTER (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)

Full description

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Chalk quarry immediately north-east of the North Kent line and south of Northfleet High Street. In use by the later 19th century, supplying, in tandem with further pits to the west at Bakers Hole, etc, the Whites Portland Cement Works to the north of the railway. The quarries were linked via tramways which ran through tunnels below the railway line to the south and below the High Street to the north. Today the tramway has been reused as the main vehicular access into the modern Blue Circle Works although the tunnel running below the High Street remains, it has been subsequently renovated, slightly enlarged and is now of concrete construction. (1) . It was used by local residents and factory workers as an Air Raid Shelter throughout the Second World War. For this it was blocked at either end with blast walls and provided with 2 tier bunks and latrines. (2-3)

<1> Essex County Council, 2003, Aggregates Levy Survey Industrial Sites, KN554 (Unpublished document). SKE12009.

<2> George Jewiss, 18/05/2008, Untitled Source (Verbal communication). SKE24302.

<3> Northfleet History Group, 01/12/05, Wartime Memories of civil defence sites (Unpublished document). SKE14093.

Sources and further reading

Related records