Limestone activity on the site goes back several centuries, being first recorded in the 1700s, but permission for the plant itself was first granted in the 1950s. Unfavourable ground conditions, bad weather, and post-war steel shortages caused delays, meaning that work did not begin on the site until 13 July 1954. Construction took two years and ten months to complete, and cost around £3.5 million. The kiln, a German Lepol design that would soon be followed by kilns two and three, was first lit on 25 April the same year, with the official opening ceremony taking place shortly afterwards, on 27 September 1957.
Rebecca Bowden
Assistant Editor
Rebecca recently started working for Palladian Publications in September and is looking forward to discovering all there is to know about the cement industry through her role as Assistant Editor on World Cement.
She graduated from the University of Oxford in 2015 with an MSt in Classical Archaeology, although she spent too much of her time doing sport, from rowing to cheerleading.
She is now living in Woking and enjoys reading, writing, travel and pretending she has the ability to cook.
