Dartford

Location:

Clinker manufacture operational: 1891-1911

Approximate total clinker production: 184,000 tonnes

Raw materials: Upper Chalk (Seaford Chalk Formation: 85-88 Ma) and Alluvial Clay from adjacent pits

Ownership:

The initial four bottle kilns (120 t/week) were extended to six before the turn of the century. In around 1902, a block of six chamber kilns (180 t/week) were added, bringing the total to 360 t/week (although Davis' list said 400 t/week). There was no rail link, all product being despatched by barge from a wharf on the River Darenth. It was already stopped by the time of the BPCM takeover, and there was no point in continuing the plant, the small quarry in a suburban area having no suitable reserves for development. The site remained derelict for many years, although the bottle kilns may have been used in a small way for lime burning. The site was finally cleared and redeveloped in the 1970s and is now under light industrial buildings. The quarry is a car park.

Power supply

The plant in its final form was driven by a gas engine.

Rawmills

No information

No rotary kilns were installed.


Sources::