Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Tram tunnel for quarry site link to another site to the south. Brick construction built sometime after 1899. The 12 m long tunnel west of Swanscombe Cross and under London Road, Greenhithe, Kent was used informally during the Second World War as an air raid shelter by workers in the cement industry site on the north side of London Road. Its entrance is blocked with brickwork.

Location accurate to 2m based on available information

Monument Types

• TRAMWAY TUNNEL (Modern to Unknown - 1906 AD?)
• AIR RAID SHELTER (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)

Full description

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Former chalk quarry (TQ 57 SE 149) within a triangular parcel of land to the north of London Road and west of the former Swanscombe Cement Works. The southern tram tunnel situated beneath London Road follows a north – south alignment and is thought to have been constructed at some point between 1908 and 1938. The tunnel was constructed in order to connect the site to another quarry situated to the south of London Road. The tunnel was converted and extended into a miniature rifle range between 1938 and 1967, as shown on historic mapping. It was dis-used by the 1930s. The site has been developed and is presently occupied by an industrial complex (La Farge). Although access was limited, a brick-built arched tunnel for a former tramway survives running below London Road and linking this quarry with another later chalk quarry to the south of the road. The entrance has been walled up although a central inspection door enables entry into the tunnel. Quarry site mainly comprised of tramways and workings supplying the works to the east. No buildings and low technological potential. (1-3) The tunnel was subject to historic building recording in 2016 (4)

The 12 m long tunnel west of Swanscombe Cross and under London Road, Greenhithe, Kent was used informally during the Second World War as an air raid shelter by workers in the cement industry site on the north side of London Road. Its entrance is blocked with brickwork. (5)

Location accurate to 2m based on available information

<1> Essex County Council, 2003, Aggregates Levy Survey Industrial Sites, KN832 (Unpublished document). SKE12009.

<2> CgMs, 2019, Historic building record, Land at London Road, Swanscombe, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE53085.

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

<4> Archaeology South-East, 2016, LAND AT CRAYLANDS LANE/LONDON ROAD, LITTLE SWANSCOMBE, KENT. HISTORIC BUILDINGS RECORD, (HISTORIC ENGLAND LEVEL 3) (Unpublished document). SKE31665.

<5> VTC Smith, 27/08/2008, Site visit by the surveyor and passed-on local knowledge (Verbal communication). SKE24205.

Sources and further reading

Related records