Location:
- Grid reference: ST31434106
- x=331430
- y=141060
- 51°9'53"N; 2°58'50"W
- Civil Parish: Puriton, Somerset
Clinker manufacture operational: 1871-1941
Approximate total clinker production: 830,000 tonnes
Raw materials: Blue Lias Limestone (Blue Lias Formation: 190-200 Ma) from 332300,141200
Ownership: John Board and Co.
Francis got his account of the Bridgwater industry from E. J. B. Akerman, Board's last (1937-1952) MD. The plant had made Blue Lias lime and Roman Cement from 1844. Portland cement production was introduced by the founder's grandson William Savidge Akerman in 1871, with consultancy from Henry Reid, with an initial five dry process bottle kilns. These had expanded to 11 by 1907, with output 330 t/week. Subsequent expansion was at the Spinx plant. The product of both plants did not necessarily meet the definition of Portland cement, and there was never any question of use of any but the most primitive equipment. Both plants continued using bottle kilns for cement manufacture until they were shut down in WWII. The plant used both the railway and the River Parrett for transportation. After closure, the site continued making precast concrete and some lime, with many of the kilns still in place, until the site was cleared for the construction of the M5 in 1973. Suggestions in the Victoria County History that cement manufacture continued until 1973 are incorrect. Some foundations are still visible at the east end of the site.
Power supply
No information
Rawmills
No information
No rotary kilns were installed.
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