History
“The Beeding Portland Cement Company was founded in c.1878 and began cement production at the site in c.1883, with a recorded output of 144 tonnes of cement per week. The location of the works was chosen due to the positioning of the River Adur in proximity to the west, allowing the transportation of raw materials to the site (clay, coal, sand and gypsum) by barge.
The facility was expanded by c.1902 which included the development of several large kilns and chalk wash mills, bringing production to 800 tonnes per week. Extensive railway links had also been developed across the pit by this time, which extended off site towards the north west and south west. Further infrastructure was developed at the site between c.1902 and c.1933 however, the works was temporarily shut down for the duration of the Second World War.
The works was completely rebuilt between c.1946 and c.1952, to accommodate the rising demand for cement after the Second World War, and was re-named the ‘Shoreham Cement Works’. The production part of the works was recorded as comprising a chalk crushing plant, several wash mills, a mixing plant, rotary kilns, coal, gypsum and clinker stores, crushing mills and a number of cement storage silos. This state of the art design provided hundreds of jobs in the local community and was recorded to have a production output of 550 tonnes of cement per day. A number of minor reconfigurations were recorded at the works between c.1952 and c.1980 to increase production and improve overall efficiency.
Production did not cease until c.1991 which was primarily due to the limitations of the old design and the inadequate production in comparison to newer facilities in the area. Additionally, there were concerns relating to the amount of dust that the works was expelling across the surrounding area which posed both environmental and anthropological health risks. Since then the site has been used for various purposes including commercial/industrial storage and as a vehicle repair centre.”
Source: https://www.groundsure.com/resources/shoreham-cement-works/
