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Rugby Cement was the common name for a company based principally in
In the late 1990s, the plant at Rugby was upgraded at a cost of £200 million to a production capacity of 1.8 million tonnes. At the same time the plants at Southam and Rochester were closed down as production was concentrated at Rugby.
Rugby Cement Plant
British companies established in 1862 Cement companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Rugby, Warwickshire Defunct companies of the United Kingdom
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...
, which produced portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th cen ...
. With its origins in the early 19th century, the company was founded in 1862 as the Rugby Lias Lime & Cement Company Ltd before being renamed the Rugby Portland Cement Company Ltd in 1872, in 1979 it was renamed the Rugby Group plc. In 2000 Rugby Cement was taken over by the RMC Group, which was itself taken over by the Mexican firm Cemex in 2005. Cement production still continues at the New Bilton site in Rugby under Cemex ownership.
History
The business was first started in 1825 as a small family business by two local businessmen Thomas Walker and his son George Walker when they started producing lime mortar at a site on their land at New Bilton and nearby Newbold-on-Avon, exploiting locally available deposits of what Professor H.B. Woodward described in 1898 as "the finest inland section of lower liaslimestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...
in the country".
The first public company the ''Rugby Lias Lime & Cement Company Ltd'' was founded in 1862. In around 1870 the company began producing portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th cen ...
, and the company was renamed the ''Rugby Portland Cement Company Ltd.'' in 1872.
The next milestone in the company's history occurred in 1933 when Sir Halford Reddish became the managing director of the company. The company began to expand its activities, acquiring four plants at nearby Southam in 1934, Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
in 1937, Gillingham in 1939, and Stockton Stockton may refer to:
Places Australia
* Stockton, New South Wales
* Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
New Zealand
*Stockton, New Zealand
United Kingdom
*Stockton, Cheshire
*Stockton, Norfolk
*Stockton, Chirbu ...
in 1945. The first two were rebuilt and modernised with the latest technology, but the latter two were soon closed down as they competed with the Southam and Rochester plants.
In 1955, the company founded an Australian subsidiary, Cockburn Cement Ltd, in Perth, Australia, which was later merged in 1999 into Adelaide Brighton Cement.
In 1965 a 92 km pipeline was opened to transport chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Cha ...
as slurry from Kensworth Chalk Pit, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
to the Rugby plant.
By the 1980s the company branched out from its Portland cement base to offer a wider variety of cement types, including sulfate-resistant cements, cements for the offshore oil industry, and quick-drying cements.
In 1984 the company bought the Addison Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
, thus entering the American construction market, and also saw it enter the joinery market.
In the late 1990s, the plant at Rugby was upgraded at a cost of £200 million to a production capacity of 1.8 million tonnes. At the same time the plants at Southam and Rochester were closed down as production was concentrated at Rugby.
See also
*Blue Lias
The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassi ...
– locally available limestone
References
{{reflistExternal links
Rugby Cement Plant
British companies established in 1862 Cement companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Rugby, Warwickshire Defunct companies of the United Kingdom