One we visited after failing on the first attempt at Shoreham. I had always fancied seeing this classic place and as me and man gone wrong thought it was a good back up. I enjoyed all the little buildings and the kilns themselves were very impressive, they were quite a size, and getting on top was fun. The little shelf that runs along the top just underneath the kilns was a bit ropey to see the least. We then walked up to the quarry and spent a little while up there. Cocking limeworks the main works was founded in the early 1900's but there had been kilns on there for a couple of hundred years. The quarry supplied the works with lime for the production of bricks made by a sister company called Midhurst bricks. The excavation of lime was at first excavated by hand with workers hanging on ropes. Ican imagine that was just a tad exciting, or maybe not. Later dynamite was used to remove chalk from the quarry walls. Trams on a narrow gauge line were used originally to ferry the chalk down to the works. Then later a conveyor system raised in the air. But in the 60's a raised small road was constructed to move the chalk by lorries. In later years the works produced lime and chalk mix for agriculture use.the works stopped producing for bricks when the associated brickworks ceased trading in 1985 and work carried on for the agricultural use. The whole site ceased operations in 1999.
Looking over the quarry.
Some of the old quarry plant laying around.
The chalk was transported up the track and tipped into the primary crushing machine and screeded.
The chalk was then transported by conveyor to another building up high which was the intermediate crusher and would grind it down finely.
Various bits of machinery for the crushing process.
The finished lime would be transported to the kilns for drying.
There were eight kilns altogether. Two of them, one either end were added later on.
Steps leading up to the kilns.
Underneath the top of the kilns.
And on top of the kilns. A dragline excavator was used to load the kilns up.
The chalk was put in this building for a final screening before put in storage and loaded into lorries via conveyors.
Looking over the quarry.
Some of the old quarry plant laying around.
The chalk was transported up the track and tipped into the primary crushing machine and screeded.
The chalk was then transported by conveyor to another building up high which was the intermediate crusher and would grind it down finely.
Various bits of machinery for the crushing process.
The finished lime would be transported to the kilns for drying.
There were eight kilns altogether. Two of them, one either end were added later on.
Steps leading up to the kilns.
Underneath the top of the kilns.
And on top of the kilns. A dragline excavator was used to load the kilns up.
The chalk was put in this building for a final screening before put in storage and loaded into lorries via conveyors.
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