Location:
- Grid reference: TQ57447551
- x=557440
- y=175510
- 51°27'24"N; 0°15'58"E
- Civil Parish: Stone, Kent
Clinker manufacture operational: 1889-1914, 1919-1922
Approximate total clinker production: 470,000 tonnes
Raw materials:
- Upper Chalk (Seaford Chalk Formation: 85-88 Ma) solely from the Stone Court Chalk Land and Pier Co., from Stone Court Lodge quarry at 556900,174600, plus (1900 onwards) Cotton Lane East quarry at 556400,174800. No chalk was sourced north of the railway.
- Alluvial Clay from Stone Marshes.
Ownership:
- 1889-1893 Gillingham Portland Cement Co. Ltd
- 1893-1900 J. B. White & Brothers Ltd
- 1900-1914 APCM (Blue Circle)
One of three plants installed at the Stone Court ballast pier, installation was probably 6 chamber kilns in 1889 (160 t/week) and 7 in 1892 (175 t/week). A further 6 chamber kilns were added around 1899, bringing capacity to 520 t/week. Part of the plant was reinstated 1919-1922. The plant was described in detail in the APCM 1924 schedule. There was no rail link, and all product was shipped from Stone Court pier. The site was entirely cleared: an extended Stone Court pier now serves a large container terminal covering the Albion, Greenhithe and Shield sites.
Power supply
The plant was entirely direct-driven by steam, with a 90 HP double expansion engine for the rawmills, and a 200 HP double expansion engine for the finish mills.
Rawmills
The plant used three washmills - rough, intermediate and finishing - in series.
No rotary kilns were installed.
Sources:
- Primary Sources:
- Greenhithe Archive
- APCM 1924 schedule
- Ordnance Survey 1:2500 mapping
- BGS mapping and monographs
- Confirmatory Sources: