Aberthaw Cement Works

Aberthaw Cement Works are cement works in the Vale of Glamorgan near the village of East Aberthaw in Wales.

The Blue Lias limestone of Aberthaw was a source of hydraulic lime from early times, and it was made famous when it was selected by John Smeaton for the construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse but various records of Aberthaw Blue Lias limestone's processing are not consistent. Evidently, limestone pebbles from Aberthaw's coastline were transported inland for burning at other limekilns but much was shipped across the Bristol Channel from the Port of Aberthaw, for burning at Three Kilns, Cleeve Hill, near Watchet, Somerset. One historical account states that John Smeaton used Watchet's burned lime which was shipped to Millbay, Plymouth for his Eddystone lighthouse construction in 1756. It was not until 1888 that a limeworks and kilns, were constructed alongside Pleasant Harbour, East Aberthaw but that works, which had become rail-served by 1892, closed in 1926. It is on record that geologically, the limestone seam at Aberthaw runs under the Bristol Channel and is also present at Watchet.

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