# Stockton Cement Works, near Rugby



## borntobemild (Dec 31, 2007)

It's only a couple of miles from where i live, so seemed a good place to start.
It has been disused since the sixties, so it's a bit overgrown.

Sorry - pics are a bit small - had trouble uploading full size images so i shrunk them in paintshop





The old Leamington-Daventry railway line runs through the site.





old railway sleeper





about eight of these structures face the old canal branch. I think they might be kilns.





Disused canal joins up with the Grand Union






Tunnel probably contained a flue leading into the drying kilns





some sort of settlement tank i think. It was about 30ft in diameter.





Water Tower - has the legend 'DUCK CEMENT CO LTD' on it





shaft near water tower - think it was probably a well





Originally thought this was an air raid shelter - not sure now. Its about 30 ft long with access either end. One side covered by an earth bank. 





Another view





Mineral railway runs parallel to main line. Tunnel is blocked at the other end

There is an aerial view of the site here.

http://www.search.windowsonwarwicks...&direction=&pointer=13515&text=0&resource=294

used to be a big place!

I'd be interested if anyone has any theories about the subterranean structure!


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## Foxylady (Dec 31, 2007)

That is really interesting, Btbm.
If you hadn't have provided that aerial pic I would've been tempted to think it'd been a WW2 airfield as some of the structures looked similar. The well shaft even looks as though there's a gun mount in there. I noticed that the original works closed in 1939 (have I got that right?) and wonder if parts of it was used for the war between then and when the next company took over.

Cheers


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## Foxylady (Dec 31, 2007)

Ah, I think I may have got the dates mixed up. Just had another look and I think it's the date the photo was taken (1930 - 1939 c).
That 'gun mount' still mystifies me though and the underground structure could have been an air raid shelter for the workers during the war.
Excellent site.


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## Goldie87 (Dec 31, 2007)

An interesting looking place. Shame the ladder to the water tower looks like it has been cut, would have been fun to climb as well!


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## borntobemild (Dec 31, 2007)

The whole place is a nature reserve now (orchids growing on the spoil heaps). I guess that's why there is a lot of stuff untouched. There's lots of ramps, brick structures, none of which photograph too well.

I'd thought it possible that the 'subterranean structure' was an explosives store, but a gun emplacement is a possibility. It seems too small to be an air raid shelter as it was such a big place. Maybe it was management only 

I'll do some more nosing around. 

The aerial photos shows the spoil heaps, which are still there, known locally as the 'Stockton Alps'.


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## Foxylady (Dec 31, 2007)

borntobemild said:


> The whole place is a nature reserve now (orchids growing on the spoil heaps)..



Sounds wonderful. I read that a lot of these places have become special scientific sites now because of the kind of soil that supports rare wildflowers or fossils, etc. 



borntobemild said:


> I'd thought it possible that the 'subterranean structure' was an explosives store,



Yeh, I wondered about that. Did they use explosives for limestone? Be the quickest way I suppose.

It's an excellent explore Btbm...one of those places that really get you wondering. Nice one.


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## smileysal (Jan 1, 2008)

The large round structure looks like a water tank (there's quite a few of these in Gleadthorpe Breck woods near Cuckney, Notts), and the brick structures are similar to those buildings at Gleadthorpe as well. The others i think are Air Raid Shelters, they do look similar. 

How many more of these buildings are there left around the area? The ones I mentioned above were when they kept hundreds of tanks in the woods all around here during the war, for the invasion. (thats what dad says anyway lol). The ones above were munitions dumps as well, maybe these were used for the same things? 

Cheers,

 Sal


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## prestwick pioneer (Jan 1, 2008)

Awesome.
I think I have to take a trip out here, as its not that far from BHX. If any other Brum dudes on the site fancy a day trip????????????????????


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## King Al (Jan 2, 2008)

Great pics, like the water tower through the trees and watch out for that well


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## borntobemild (Jan 2, 2008)

prestwick pioneer said:


> Awesome.
> I think I have to take a trip out here, as its not that far from BHX. If any other Brum dudes on the site fancy a day trip????????????????????



If your making a trip, i'd recommend going to Southam Cement works as well. They are only about 2 miles apart.
There is a thread about it on here somewhere. Its very different. Although the cement works are derelict, the quarry is still active so there are people about during the week.

I can send you directions if you want.


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## borntobemild (Apr 11, 2009)

Went for another little wander before the vegetation makes the place impenetrable.

Old Boiler?







Some sort of vent that ran under the works






close up - you'd have to be pretty skinny to get in there






Large concrete ring. Looks a bit like a mill stone - maybe used for crushing the limestone. There were about half a dozen of them lying around close to this one.






A collection of metal buckets. There must have been about 100 of them lying around the site. 






This gives you an idea how long the place has been abandoned






Went back into the mysterious concrete structure with a better torch. I'm sure now it's an air raid shelter. About 20 m long by 8m wide. Doors at right angles to the main chamber. Concrete about 1m thick.


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## Foxylady (Apr 11, 2009)

Some excellent finds there, btbm. The millstone thingies are great.


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## Mancha (Apr 19, 2009)

Hi. I discovered this place about 2years ago and found many of the things that Borntobemild found, I re-visited the site last week and found they have chopped down a lot of the trees around the area with the concrete structures, it,s a shame because it had a "lost world" kind of feeling. Anyway I remember talking to someone about the underground building which does look like an ammunitions store/air raid shelter and they told me the German bombers used to follow canals and rivers etc for navigation, I don,t know how true this is but it is alongside the Grand Union Canal so there could be an element of truth in it and maybe that,s why they are here.


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## borntobemild (Apr 20, 2009)

I think the clearance was done by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust who manage the site on behalf of Cemex.

Your WW2 theory might be right. There's an old gun emplacement on the top of Napton Hill to the SE, and there was a decoy factory at Kites Hardwick. All three are on the route German bombers would have taken on their way to Coventry.


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## Adewasere (Jan 7, 2010)

Hi Borntobemild, visited the site lots of times youve done some great pics there. 

Just a bit of info to add to your thread if you don't mind

The site was owned by Charles Nelson & Co until they were bought out by Rugby Cement in the mid 40's.

The brand of cement they made was called Cock brand which was supposed to be of the purist form of cement, it was used in the building of Victoria embankment. If you go to Stockton you will see the working mens club, which was built by Charles Nelson Co and its 'Cock' emblem is displayed outside. The works was self sufficiant with its own repair shops, offices, chemist lab and kilns. About 90% of the working population of Stockton worked at the pits up to WWII.

The actual rock was dug out of the big pit (or Cally pit as it was known locally) by blasting, hand and steam shovel and loaded into horse drawn wagons to the washers located at the base of the big tower in the quarry (rumbler). Once washed the load was carried up to the top level by crane or conveyor and loaded into another wagon and taken off to the works for processing. The waste was mixed with water and pumped up to the top of the heaps to create the large mounds we have today.

The site closed in the late 40's as it was too expensive to modernise and expand the works and it was in a derelict state till the 60's when the works were demolished.

The underground bunker was a mystery for years and after researching it was revealed it was a store for explosives and it is located by the water treatment section of the works.

Another puzzle was all them buckets, loads of them everywhere. Did you find the old rail wagon which was tipped upside down? Also in the big pit there is remains of the narrow gauge railway dotted around.

Anyways again I hope you dont mind the info added.


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## borntobemild (Jan 8, 2010)

thanks mate.

Most of that was news to me. I've heard there's an old steam engine at the bottom of the big pit - not sure whether that's folklore or not.

Thanks for resolving the mystery of the explosives store. Thought it was an odd place for an air raid shelter.

Never actually been into the big pit area - big fence has defeated me!


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## Adewasere (Jan 13, 2010)

No thank you for posting the pics. 

There could well be machinery at the bottom of the pit as when it closed all the machinery was left till the 60's. One workman was supposedly killed when the crane he was dismantling fell into the pit and crushed him. Used to play in there when I was younger and climb the old tower and cliffs.

Cheers


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