| Gibbs Diamond Brand. |
Location:
- Grid reference: TQ59557820
- x=559610
- y=178220
- 51°28'49"N; 0°17'52"E
- Civil Parish: West Thurrock, Essex
Clinker manufacture operational: 1872-26/3/1909, 1919-1921
Approximate total clinker production: 590,000 tonnes
Raw materials:
- Upper Chalk (Seaford Chalk Formation: 85-88 Ma) from quarry at 559500,178400
- Thames and Medway Alluvial Clay
Ownership:
- 1872-1900 Gibbs and Co. Ltd
- 1900-1921 APCM (Blue Circle)
Occasionally called Gibbs Works. Starting with seven chamber kilns (170 t/week), further similar blocks of seven were built in 1882 and 1893, after which there was no further development. It was the site of one of the second-generation Ransome rotary kilns which, like the others, failed to operate successfully. A highly optimistic account of the kiln appeared in The Engineer in 1887, and can be read here. A number of rotary kilns were projected, but were not commissioned. The plant closed when the local new rotary kiln plants were in full production as the market turned down in 1909, although it seems to have been briefly re-opened after WWI. The plant was described in detail in the APCM 1924 schedule. Whiting was made and continued some time after the cement plant closed. The plant site and quarry were amalgamated with those of the adjacent Wouldham (Essex): the buildings were abandoned and gradually removed. The quarry now contains housing, and the plant site warehousing.
Power supply
The plant was always direct-driven by steam engines. The final plant had a 250 HP double-expansion engine for the rawmills and a 300 HP double-expansion engine for the finish mills.
Rawmills
Washmills were always used. The final plant had a 15' preliminary mill fed with chalk and clay, follwed by an 18' screening mill.
One rotary kiln was installed.
Kiln A1
Supplier: Ransome
Operated: installed 1887 – never produced commercially
Process: “Long” Dry
Location: ? : entirely enclosed.
Dimensions: 25’0” × 5’0” (metric 7.62 × 1.524)
Rotation (viewed from firing end): ?
Kiln profile: ?0×1524, 7620×1524: rollers at 1905, 5715: turning gear at 3810
Cooler: none
Fuel: Producer gas
Typical Output: 16.8 t/d (calculated 2023 model): it was claimed that it should make 25 t/d
ypical Heat Consumption: 12.0 MJ/kg (calculated 2023 model)
Sources:
- Primary Sources:
- Greenhithe Archive
- APCM 1924 schedule
- The Engineer, 63, 4 March 1887, p 167
- Ordnance Survey 1:2500 mapping
- BGS mapping and monographs
- Confirmatory Sources: