Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located east of Dartford and north-west of Gravesend, in the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. At the 2001 UK census, the Swanscombe electoral ward had a population of 6,418. Swanscombe was important in the early history of cement. The first cement production works near Swanscombe were opened at Northfleet by James Parker, around 1792, making "Roman cement" from cement rock brought from the Isle of Sheppey. James Frost opened up a works at Swanscombe in 1825, using chalk from Galley Hill, having actually patented a new concrete called British Cement. The Swanscombe plant was subsequently acquired by John Bazley White & Co, which came to be the largest part of Blue Circle Industries when it developed in 1900. It lastly closed down in 1990. In between 1840 and also 1930 it was the biggest cement plant in Britain. By 1882 a number of concrete suppliers were running throughout the north Kent area, yet the resulting dirt pollution drove the people of Swanscombe to take lawsuit against the regional cement works. Despite numerous technological advancements, the issue lingered into the 1950s, with telegraph lines over an inch thick in white dirt. Modern cement kilns in Kent making use of chimneys 170 m (550 feet) in elevation are now stated to be the cleanest worldwide. However, the adjoining Medway communities are reported to be the most contaminated populated area in the UK, and also the concrete industry contributes to acid rain in Scandinavia.
