History
The china clay works at Marsh Mills were begun in the early years of the twentieth century when a large pan-kiln was constructed to dry the china clay which was brought down from the clay pits at Lee Moor by pipeline. A pan-kiln is a primitive form of drying liquid china clay by a hypocaust system, developed in Cornwall in the mid nineteenth century. Part of this building can still be seen today, although heavily altered. Following the Second World War an attempt was made to mechanize the industry and three oil-fired drum-like driers were added at Marsh Mills. These were some of the first to be installed and were unique to the china clay industry in Devon and Cornwall. They consisted of a rotating stack of trays, contained in a heated brick or concrete drum like structure. Wet clay entered the top of the dryer and gradually dropped down as the trays rotated. In the following years the works were greatly expanded by English China Clays with a further buell dries constructed along with extensive storage buildings known as linhays. The site was taken over by Imerys in 1999, following their acquisition of English China Clays and I believe was closed in 2008. The majority of the machinery has since been removed and demolition has recently begun, and 550 homes will be constructed on the land.
There are a couple of reports from 2009 on here which show the site shortly after closure, before removal of much of the machinery
www.28dayslater.co.uk
www.28dayslater.co.uk
The Explore
I made two visits to the site in 2017 and although the site is nowhere near as good as it was, there is still quite a lot to see. The highlight is undoubtedly two buell dries which I'm guessing date from the mid 50s or 60s and must be the only virtually complete buell dries in existence. I made another visit this month, primarily to see the old buell dries and although the site is no longer a walk-in, I still got to see what I wanted.
One of the clay pits on Lee Moor where the china clay was mined before travelling by pipeline to the works at Marsh Mills
Many deer can be seen around the works
The unassuming exterior of the buell dries
Looking up inside one of the dries showing the rotating trays
The other end of the building would have once contained presses to remove as much water as possible before the clay headed into the drier
A further buell drier was added later (the building on the left) with a storage linhay next door. This buell drier has now been completely demolished and part of the linhay has gone.
The circular feature in the foreground was the base for a larger drier
The store where dried clay was taken away by either road or rail
This building was the location of the pan-kiln and was likely to have been the location of the first three buell dries, currently the asbestos roof is being removed prior to demolition
Demolition under way
Thanks for looking
The china clay works at Marsh Mills were begun in the early years of the twentieth century when a large pan-kiln was constructed to dry the china clay which was brought down from the clay pits at Lee Moor by pipeline. A pan-kiln is a primitive form of drying liquid china clay by a hypocaust system, developed in Cornwall in the mid nineteenth century. Part of this building can still be seen today, although heavily altered. Following the Second World War an attempt was made to mechanize the industry and three oil-fired drum-like driers were added at Marsh Mills. These were some of the first to be installed and were unique to the china clay industry in Devon and Cornwall. They consisted of a rotating stack of trays, contained in a heated brick or concrete drum like structure. Wet clay entered the top of the dryer and gradually dropped down as the trays rotated. In the following years the works were greatly expanded by English China Clays with a further buell dries constructed along with extensive storage buildings known as linhays. The site was taken over by Imerys in 1999, following their acquisition of English China Clays and I believe was closed in 2008. The majority of the machinery has since been removed and demolition has recently begun, and 550 homes will be constructed on the land.
There are a couple of reports from 2009 on here which show the site shortly after closure, before removal of much of the machinery
Report - - Imerys Marsh Mills Dryers - Plymouth | Industrial Sites
Ok this is my first report so go easy lol. I have been looking around this site since about christmas time. I first went when we were having loads of snow and the entire place was covered in ice, which made exploring this site for the first time slightly more eventfull. I have been to this...
www.28dayslater.co.uk
Report - - Clay Works, Plymouth - March 2009 | Industrial Sites
After a visit earlier this year, I knew this place had more to explore. Thanks for looking ~Chase www.urbexing.com
www.28dayslater.co.uk
The Explore
I made two visits to the site in 2017 and although the site is nowhere near as good as it was, there is still quite a lot to see. The highlight is undoubtedly two buell dries which I'm guessing date from the mid 50s or 60s and must be the only virtually complete buell dries in existence. I made another visit this month, primarily to see the old buell dries and although the site is no longer a walk-in, I still got to see what I wanted.
One of the clay pits on Lee Moor where the china clay was mined before travelling by pipeline to the works at Marsh Mills
Many deer can be seen around the works
The unassuming exterior of the buell dries
Looking up inside one of the dries showing the rotating trays
The other end of the building would have once contained presses to remove as much water as possible before the clay headed into the drier
A further buell drier was added later (the building on the left) with a storage linhay next door. This buell drier has now been completely demolished and part of the linhay has gone.
The circular feature in the foreground was the base for a larger drier
The store where dried clay was taken away by either road or rail
This building was the location of the pan-kiln and was likely to have been the location of the first three buell dries, currently the asbestos roof is being removed prior to demolition
Demolition under way
Thanks for looking
:
