SPCC Brand.
Location:
- Grid reference: TQ44870328
- x=544870
- y=103280
- 50°48'39"N; 0°3'23"E
- Civil Parish: South Heighton, East Sussex
Clinker manufacture operational: 9/1884 - 1924
Approximate total clinker production: 790,000 tonnes
Raw materials:
- Upper Chalk (Seaford Chalk Formation: 85-88 Ma) from the adjacent quarry at 544900,103400
- Clay:
- 1884-1885 Alluvial Clay from the Medway
- 1885-1922 Upper Gault Clay (Gault Formation: 100-106 Ma) from Glynde 546900,109700 (by rail). During 1885-1889 clay was moved from the Glynde clayfield to the railway by Telpher system - the first of these to operate.
- 1914-1924 Alluvial Clay from the Ouse close to the plant.
Ownership:
- 1884-1911 Sussex Portland Cement Co. Ltd
- 1911-1924 BPCM (Blue Circle)
Sometimes called South Heighton Works. The plant was constructed with chamber kilns: 1884 Nos 1-4, capacity 84 t/week, located at 544843,103226 to 544850,103230; 1891 Nos 5-12, capacity 232 t/week, located at 544856,103242 to 544874,103272; 1897 Nos 13-21, capacity 261 t/week, located at 544876,103277 to 544896,103311. Heat consumption 16.8 MJ/kg. In 1902, a rotary kiln similar to those at Shoreham was installed. A second, larger kiln was installed in 1907. The plant was described in detail in the BPCM 1924 schedule. The 1924 rating was only 350 t/week. The reduction in output was probably associated with the use of alluvial clay. The closure of the plant, in an area short of cement, was presumably due to lack of raw material reserves. The plant did not have a wharf on the River Ouse: it had a spur on the LB&SC railway, and may have used the port of Newhaven for water-borne transport. The plant site is now an industrial estate, and the quarry contains a trailer park.
Power Supply
The plant was directly driven by steam engines. From 1902, a gas engine was used to run the coal plant and to drive a small generator to run the rotary kiln. A 50 kW turbo-generator was installed to run the 1907 kiln.
Rawmills
In the early plant, chalk and clay were milled in a common washmill, then the slurry was re-ground with flat stones. From 1897, an enlarged common washmill was followed by a screening mill. A new system, consisting of a rough mill and two finishing mills, was under construction when the plant was closed in 1924.
Two rotary kilns were installed:
Kiln A1
Supplier: FLS
Operated: 10/1902 -1908
Process: Wet
Location: Hot end 544879,103347: Cold end 544864,103357
Dimensions: Metric 18.00×1.500
Rotation (viewed from firing end): anti-clockwise.
Slope: 1/16 (3.583°)
Speed: ?
Drive: 2.24 kW
Kiln profile: 0×1500: 18000×1500: tyres at 2100, 8400, 15900: turning gear at 9375
Cooler: Cooler pit, elevator and vertical 3 m i.d. drum cooler
Fuel: Coal
Coal mill: indirect: FLS ball & tube mill
Exhaust: direct to stack.
Typical Output: 26 t/d
Typical Heat Consumption: 10.3 MJ.kg
Kiln A2
Supplier: FLS
Operated: 4/1907-1924
Process: Wet
Location: Hot end 544883,103352: Cold end 544854,103369
Dimensions: Metric 34.00×2.100
Rotation (viewed from firing end): clockwise.
Slope: 1/25 (2.292°)
Speed: 1.0-2.0 rpm
Drive: ?
Kiln profile: 0×2100: 34000×2100: tyres at 1475, 12010, 25970: turning gear at 12905
Cooler: “Double-back” concentric rotary metric 9.30 × 1.200 / 1.050 / 1.650 beneath the kiln.
Cooler profile: 0×1200: 3600×1200: 3600×1050: 8850×1050: 9300×1650: 3900×1650: tyre at 2100 with trunnion end bearing: turning gear at tail end.
Fuel: Coal
Coal mill: indirect: Krupp No.6 ball mill & FLS No.12 tube mill
Exhaust: via drop-out box to stack.
Typical Output: 1907-1914 69 t/d: 1914-1924 50 t/d
Typical Heat Consumption: 8.73 MJ.kg
Sources:
- Primary Sources:
- Southern Area Archive
- 1902 Newspaper article
- Greenhithe Archive
- BPCM 1924 schedule
- photography
- Ordnance Survey 1:2500 mapping
- BGS mapping and monographs
- Confirmatory Sources: