Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Alpha Cement Works was built in 1913-15 by the Thames Portland Cement Company. It was a small works and was taken over by the Alpha Cement Company in 1934. There were four rotary kilns in operation at the workd by 1938. It was subsequently taken over by Blue Circle but closed in 1970. Little was left remaining - the Gatehouse was demolished in 1997 and now only the Worker's Air Raid Shelters are left (see TQ 77 NW 139). One of several works in this area (see also TQ 77 NW 37 and TQ 77 NW 122).

Monument Types

• CEMENT WORKS (Modern - 1913 AD? to 1970 AD (between))

Full description

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Alpha Cement Works, established by Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers in 1910, closed in 1967 and largely demolished by 1984. Gate lodge and parts of adjacent slurry washbacks surviving in 1996 along with tramway embankments. Used as part of gravel works (1), site photographs (2-8). No access to the cement works during the coastal survey in 2005 (9)
Built in 1913-5 by the Thames Portland Cement Co and taken over by Alpha Cement Co in 1934. By 1938 it operated four rotary kilns. The works were lattely operated by Blue Circle and closed in 1970. The site was cleared after closure apart from the Gatehouse, demolished in 1997 and the Worker's Air Raid Shelters (TQ 77 NW 139). The works was a small one (see 10).
Gravel extraction has taken place south of the works (11).

The area contains a number of earlier Cement Works to the north, Nine Elms Works (TQ 77 NW 37) and Quarry Works (TQ 77 NW 122).

The Thames Portland Cement Company was set up by Broads, the London builder's merchants to secure their own supply of cement in the face of the APCM merger. A second kiln was added in 1926 and a third in 1936.
Cement was exported by barge from a jetty adjacent to Cliffe Fort. The Alpha site was completely cleared by 1979 when the Marinex Gravel Company [Brett Group] moved onto the site, the jetty being utilised for the unloading of aggregate from dredgers. The line of the former tramway is utilised for the gravel conveyor.(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...The late 19th century population growth of Cliffe created a demand for housing on an unprecedented scale. Most of this demand came from workers at Francis & Company's cement factory and early on the company provided housing for some of its employees erecting in the 1870s houses and cottages along Salt Lane, opposite the works." (13)

Jim Preston Personal Communication (Verbal communication). SKE13236.

Jim Preston Personal Communication (Verbal communication). Ske13236.

<1> Not applicable, SMR Kent uncatalogued index entry, Site visit by DC Eve April 1996 (Miscellaneous Material). SKE6440.

<2> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9426.

<3> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9440.

<4> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9449.

<5> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9858.

<6> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9865.

<7> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10018.

<8> 2000, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10277.

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

<10> Eve, David., 1999, The Cement Industry in Kent: Results of a Sites and Monuments Record Enhancement Project 1996 - 98 (Unpublished document). SKE12011.

<11> Barnes, B. and Innes, B., 1984, A nineteenth Century Cement Works at Cliffe (Article in serial). SWX7719.

<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

Related records