page_title: Swanscombe
section_title: Cement industry
hierarchical_section_title: Swanscombe / Cement industry
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Thames estuary showing cement plants between Dartford and Gravesend, location of raw materials, and areas quarried up to 1996. The cement plants on the north bank are (left to right): Metropolitan (Alpha) Tunnel Thames (Brooks, Shoobridge &amp; Co &gt;&gt; APCM) Wouldham (&gt;&gt; BPCM) Grays (Gibbs &amp; Co Ltd &gt;&gt; APCM) On the south bank (left to right): Dartford (&gt;&gt; BPCM) Artillery (&gt;&gt; BPCM) Albion (&gt;&gt; BPCM) Shield (Wilders &amp; Cary &gt;&gt; APCM) Greenhithe (J B White &gt;&gt; APCM) Kent (APCM) Johnson's (&gt;&gt; BPCM) Globe (&gt;&gt; BPCM) Swanscombe (J B White &gt;&gt; APCM) Britannia Robin's (&gt;&gt; APCM) &#160;? Bevan's (&gt;&gt; APCM) Crown (Weston &amp; Co &gt;&gt; APCM) London Portland (&gt;&gt; APCM) replaced (1970) by Northfleet Works on same site Imperial (&gt;&gt; APCM) Red Lion (Tolhurst &amp; Sons Ltd)
context_page_description: Swanscombe is a town in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located 4.4 miles west of Gravesend and 4.8 miles east of Dartford.
context_section_description: The southeast of England has abundant resources of clay and chalk. The first mining activity known in the area was for flint, a rock commonly found across the North and South Downs and in the Weald. This was used for tools.
  Swanscombe was important in the early history of cement.  The first cement manufacturing works near Swanscombe were opened at Northfleet by James Parker, around 1792, making "Roman cement" from cement stone brought from the Isle of Sheppey. James Frost opened a works at Swanscombe in 1825, using chalk from Galley Hill, having patented a new cement called British Cement.  The Swanscombe plant was subsequently acquired by John Bazley White & Co, which became the largest component of Blue Circle Industries when it formed in 1900.  It finally shut down in 1990.  Between 1840 and 1930 it was the largest cement plant in Britain.  By 1882 several cement manufacturers were operating across the north Kent region, but the resulting dust pollution drove the people of Swanscombe to take legal action against the local cement works. Despite various technological innovations, the problem persisted into the 1950s, with telegraph lines over an inch thick in white dust. Modern cement kilns in Kent using chimneys 170 m (550 feet) in height are now said to be the cleanest in the world. However, the neighbouring Medway towns are reported to be the most polluted inhabited area in the UK, and the cement industry contributes to acid rain in Scandinavia.
caption: Cement plants on the Thames estuary
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