I visited the Gothers China-Clay Works with @Terminal Decline and the history below is a collaboration between the both of us. Note that this site is now part of an active builder's depot.
History
In the 19th century, two china-clay works were in operation near the village of Gothers, namely the Lower and the Higher Gothers China-Clay Works. The Higher Gothers China -Clay Works are more or less collocated with the modern works, while the Lower Gothers Works were located slightly to the south. The latter were in operation prior to 1828 and the clay produced there was sold on the marked by the Goonvean Clay and Stone Co. In the 1840s Gothers (probably Lower Gothers) was producing 800 tons per year, while about ten years later the combined output of the Lower and Higher Works was about 2200 tons, the majority being produced at Higher Gothers.
In 1879, the Higher Gothers China Clay Works, were acquired by H.D. Pochin and Co. and they became the the main china-clay drying complex for the company. Henry Davis Pochin (1824-1895) was an English industrial chemist, who is known for two inventions. Firstly, he developed a process for the clarification of rosin, a resin obtained from pines or conifers, which is used in the manufacturing of soap. By passing steam through the resin, the rosin comes out white after the distillation process, thus enabling the production of white soap. He sold the rights to this process to raise money to exploit his second invention, which was a process of using ammonium sulfate and alumina (aluminum oxide) as a low cost alternative to alumstone in the production of alum cake used in the manufacture of paper.
The process required china clay, and Pochin bought several china clay mines in Cornwall for this purpose. In time H.D. Pochin and Co became one of the three largest British producers of china clay until they were acquired in 1932 by English China Clay. As we mentioned above Gothers was H.D. Pochins main China clay drying complex. At that stage it consisted of a number of kilns, each served by a narrow gauge tramway, and was considered to be an extensive works in its day. The tramway was known simply as Pochin’s Tramway, and ran from the Gothers works, across the Goss Moor to a loading wharf on the St Dennis Branch. The tramway was operated by a small fleet of steam locomotives known as “Pochin’s Puffing Billies”, carrying clay to the wharf in crude three plank wagons. Upon reaching the wharf, the clay would be loaded in to standard gauge wagons. Coal for firing the kilns was transferred from standard gauge wagons into the narrow gauge tramway wagons for the return journey, the wagons were then cleaned of coal dust at Gothers before being loaded with clay for another trip. Because the crude tramway wagons had no braking mechanism, the train operators developed a novel solution that involved jamming a piece of timber between the spokes of the wheels while the train was in motion.
After the WW2 it became known as “Gothers Concrete” and produced concrete from china clay waste. This concrete was used in the construction of the “Cornish Unit Houses” , a prefabricated housing unit that was introduced shortly after the postwar era in order to alleviate the chronic housing shortage resulting from the bombing by the Germans.
In the 1960s English China Clay turned the site into a research and development site installing a small modern china clay plant. In 1999 the French company Imetal bought English China Clays. Imetal later changed their name to Imerys which continued to operate the site until a few years ago. Today most of the buildings on the site date back to the 1930’s and 1960′ although some of the stone build structures are older and date back to early 19th century.
And now to the pictures...
Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed the report.
History
In the 19th century, two china-clay works were in operation near the village of Gothers, namely the Lower and the Higher Gothers China-Clay Works. The Higher Gothers China -Clay Works are more or less collocated with the modern works, while the Lower Gothers Works were located slightly to the south. The latter were in operation prior to 1828 and the clay produced there was sold on the marked by the Goonvean Clay and Stone Co. In the 1840s Gothers (probably Lower Gothers) was producing 800 tons per year, while about ten years later the combined output of the Lower and Higher Works was about 2200 tons, the majority being produced at Higher Gothers.
In 1879, the Higher Gothers China Clay Works, were acquired by H.D. Pochin and Co. and they became the the main china-clay drying complex for the company. Henry Davis Pochin (1824-1895) was an English industrial chemist, who is known for two inventions. Firstly, he developed a process for the clarification of rosin, a resin obtained from pines or conifers, which is used in the manufacturing of soap. By passing steam through the resin, the rosin comes out white after the distillation process, thus enabling the production of white soap. He sold the rights to this process to raise money to exploit his second invention, which was a process of using ammonium sulfate and alumina (aluminum oxide) as a low cost alternative to alumstone in the production of alum cake used in the manufacture of paper.
The process required china clay, and Pochin bought several china clay mines in Cornwall for this purpose. In time H.D. Pochin and Co became one of the three largest British producers of china clay until they were acquired in 1932 by English China Clay. As we mentioned above Gothers was H.D. Pochins main China clay drying complex. At that stage it consisted of a number of kilns, each served by a narrow gauge tramway, and was considered to be an extensive works in its day. The tramway was known simply as Pochin’s Tramway, and ran from the Gothers works, across the Goss Moor to a loading wharf on the St Dennis Branch. The tramway was operated by a small fleet of steam locomotives known as “Pochin’s Puffing Billies”, carrying clay to the wharf in crude three plank wagons. Upon reaching the wharf, the clay would be loaded in to standard gauge wagons. Coal for firing the kilns was transferred from standard gauge wagons into the narrow gauge tramway wagons for the return journey, the wagons were then cleaned of coal dust at Gothers before being loaded with clay for another trip. Because the crude tramway wagons had no braking mechanism, the train operators developed a novel solution that involved jamming a piece of timber between the spokes of the wheels while the train was in motion.
After the WW2 it became known as “Gothers Concrete” and produced concrete from china clay waste. This concrete was used in the construction of the “Cornish Unit Houses” , a prefabricated housing unit that was introduced shortly after the postwar era in order to alleviate the chronic housing shortage resulting from the bombing by the Germans.
In the 1960s English China Clay turned the site into a research and development site installing a small modern china clay plant. In 1999 the French company Imetal bought English China Clays. Imetal later changed their name to Imerys which continued to operate the site until a few years ago. Today most of the buildings on the site date back to the 1930’s and 1960′ although some of the stone build structures are older and date back to early 19th century.
And now to the pictures...
Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed the report.
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