| Pre-1900 Hilton Brand. |
Location:
- Grid reference: TR01696176
- x=601690
- y=161760
- 51°19'9"N; 0°53'40"E
- Civil Parish: Faversham Within, Kent
Clinker manufacture operational: 1852-1903
Approximate total clinker production: 340,000 tonnes
Raw materials:
- Upper Chalk (Seaford Chalk Formation: 85-88 Ma) originally perhaps from pit at 601850,160600 (Preston Within, Kent) and vicinity, brought in by road, but soon from Upnor and Middle Chalk (Holywell Nodular Chalk Formation: 92-94 Ma) by barge from Halling Manor
- Swale Alluvial Clay
Ownership:
- 1816-1849 Samuel Sheppard
- 1849-1864 Hilton and Co.
- 1864-1893 Hilton, Anderson and Co.
- 1893-1900 Hilton, Anderson, Brooks and Co. Ltd
- 1900-1905 APCM (Blue Circle)
As with Elmley, this was primarily a Roman Cement plant. It was established in 1816 by Samuel Sheppard and used septaria from the Isle of Sheppey and the Essex coast. Hilton began Portland manufacture soon after taking over when Johnson’s activities at Crown (Frindsbury) became evident. By the time of the 1865 map, there were eleven kilns, of which eight wet process bottle kilns (247 t/week) were used for Portland cement. By this time, Hilton's expansion was already concentrated at Upnor, and only one more kiln was added, probably in the early 1870s, giving a final 279 t/week. The plant was connected to the London/Dover railway by the Faversham Creek branch from 1860, but was probably only used for fuel, water transport being used for everything else. The plant formally ceased production in 1905, but clinker production probably ceased earlier. With efficient kilns at Halling Manor from 1900, and no significant reserves here, there was no reason to keep the plant running. After closure and a few years as a depot, as a town centre location, the site was redeveloped, and is now under housing. The quarry is under light industry and housing.
Power supply
No information, but separate small steam engines were probably used for raw and finish mills.
Rawmills
The plant finished up with three 18 ft washmills, and this probably changed little during the life of the plant.
No rotary kilns were installed.
Sources:
- Primary Sources:
- Greenhithe Archive
- directories
- Ordnance Survey 1:2500 mapping
- BGS mapping and monographs
- Confirmatory Sources: