Ketton Cement Works

Ketton Cement Works is a large cement plant and quarry based in the village of Ketton in the county of Rutland in the United Kingdom. Now owned by HeidelbergCement, the plant produces around one tenth of the UK's Portland Cement needs. Ketton works employs around 220 people and is at the forefront of sustainable cement production, namely through the increasing use of non-fossil fuels for the kilns.

Ketton Cement works can trace its history back to Frank Walker, a Sheffield builder, who was looking to establish a works for sectional buildings and cement products. In 1921, he bought 1174 acres of Ketton parish, most of which consisted of old quarries and clay pits. In 1925, Walker established a small concrete block factory company under the name "Walkers Ketton Stone Company", and by 1927 was looking to raise the capital for a cement works. The project was taken up by Sheffield businessman Joseph Ward, the brother of Thomas William Ward and chairman of the business which also had interests in machinery, scrap metal, fuel and ship breaking. For most of its history, Ketton Cement was treated as a subsidiary of Thos W Ward. Frank Walker sold his block business to the newly formed The Ketton Portland Cement Company in July 1928, followed by his land at Ketton in August. Work began on the cement works on 1 August 1928, with much of the machinery and railway equipment coming from Ward's. The first full weekly wage-bill of £202.2.11 was paid on the week ending 10 August 1928 for about 90 men. By the week ending 8 November, the wage bill had risen to over £600 for around 250 men and boys, which were at work on the site.

The works was built with just one kiln but in 1933 Kiln Two was added. Kiln Three soon followed in 1939. A major part of the construction of Kiln Three was its new chimney built out of reinforced concrete, as opposed to brick. The chimney stood at an impressive 338 feet (103 m) high and was the tallest structure in the south of England, visible for as far as 50 miles away. The rapid growth of the plant was in line with a rise of cement prices towards the end of the late 1930s. By 1939, production had increased from 50,000 tonnes in 1930 to well over 200,000 tonnes. During the Second World War, the demand for cement increased hugely due to the construction of military bases and defences, but, as with most industry at the time, Ketton Cement suffered hugely from labour shortages due to the call up of most able-bodied men.

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