Cropwell Bishop Village Parish Plan

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What did they do with the gypsum? (11-8-08)

The picture on the right was taken in 1992. It is easily recognisable as the Lime Kiln beside the Canal. It was then owned by British Gypsum and the white coating was from the work done inside.

What went on in those buildings? Alan Beet, who still lives in Cropwell Bishop, worked inside them for five years and can tell us from first hand experience how the gypsum rock that was mined in Cropwell Bishop was turned into a desirable product that was distributed all over the world. Read what he has to say.

Memories of the Gypsum Works by Alan Beet

It was in 1964 that I left School and started work at the Gypsum Works: I was fifteen years old.

The Works were in production 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and during my first year it was my job to mark bags. I had to stencil on the names of customers, some of which were as far away as America and Africa. My hours were from 7.30am to 4.30pm.

In my second year, I spent a few months in the Maintenance Section where I helped to repair the Mixers and Mills used in the factory. I then went on to actually work on the Mixers. This involved mixing ground gypsum powder with chemicals. It was a very dusty atmosphere and we were soon covered from head to toe in white gypsum dust.

Break times were signaled by a siren (like an air-raid siren) that could be heard all over the Village, and we would use an air line to blow off the dust on us, just as we did at the end of each day. My working hours were now from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, and a further four hours on Saturday. I continued working at the Gypsum Works until I was twenty years old.

The photograph of the Works (see above) shows a series of buildings and I remember that each one was used for a different purpose. The first one, the closest in the photograph, housed the Loading Bay where workers used sack barrows to load lorries.

The next building along housed a Storeroom and two Mixers of different size. Each Mixer was about 8ft by 4ft (2.5m by 1.2m) and had in its middle a paddle to mix the contents.

The forth building along, somewhat higher and with a doorway half way up its wall, was the Main Mill. Inside, where the doorway is, were two big millstones which were used to grind the gypsum.

The next building, the highest, had three floors. The ground floor housed a Loading bay and a Crusher. The middle floor housed Mixers and the top floor was where the Hoppers were filled. 

The furthest building housed a Chopping Room and a Storeroom.

Beyond the furthest building in the photograph were two Kilns. A Kiln would be packed with gypsum stone and then its entrance would be sealed. A series of fires were then lit all the way around its edge. These fires were kept burning for about a week to bake the gypsum inside.

When the Kiln had cooled down, the gypsum stone was removed and wheeled into the Chopping Room where it was dressed with axes. Any brown marl was chopped off, and any blue veins were chopped out. The gypsum that remained was pure white and this was used to supply special orders to places like hospitals and dentists.

This is just a brief outline of what I remember of the Gypsum Works but will, I hope, add interest to that section of the Canal towpath. Maybe you will find yourself imagining the sounds of the Works when you next walk along it.

Alan Beet