T H E   D E R E L I C T   M I S C E L L A N Y

Revisiting Buckland Sand and Silica Works, I was surprised to see the lower part of the factory completely flooded with 2' of water, now home to a flotilla of ducks who glide nonchalantly among the steel girders and half-submerged piles of sand. I first came here in 2009 and even then the place was in bad shape, but now the wooden floors have rotted through in places, ceilings have collapsed, pigeons bluster about the roof trusses and loose siding clatters in the slightest breeze.

Sacks of finished product, 2009 Millar's sand dryers with take-up screw housing on the left, 2015 Loading spouts and flooded loading floor, 2015 Safety first, 2015 Collapse, 2015 Tapwood quarry works, 2009 [click images below to expand & enlarge]

Buckland Sand and Silica C^o L^td was founded in 1925 by the aptly-named Robert Sanders. Initially the pit employed 5 men and a secretary, most of the labour being provided by ex-farm workers from the Sanders estate. The first sandpit was dug by hand and the sand loaded onto horse-drawn carts, but automation soon followed: by 1934 a bagging and drying plant had been built and the works were served by a narrow gauge railway which linked it to a nearby tile works with sidings on the North Downs railway line. At this time the workforce stood at 20 men and 500-600 tons of sand were being sold every week, mostly to the construction industry. Buckland also supplied high quality silica sand for use as a casting medium in foundries and a raw material in the glass industry. Buckland sands have also been used at various times in filtration, horticulture, golf courses, long-jump pits and playgrounds.

By the 1970s, the sandpit was the largest local employer with 50 staff; in 1978 Buckland Sand & Silica C^o L^td was acquired by the Amalgamated Roadstone Corporation but continued to trade under the Buckland name until 1989 when the business was bought out by Hanson.⁵ Since then sand has been processed elsewhere and the small plant has become derelict and very unsafe in places.

Sand was, until recently, still extracted from the nearby Park and Tapwood quarries on either side of the A25. Park Quarry was flooded to create an artificial lake around 2000 and Tapwood quarry has been allowed to fill with water in the last two years (although two diesel-engined pumps now struggle noisily against the constant ingress of groundwater). Current plans involve closing the old pits to create a nature reserve. The old factory is no longer part of the Hanson estate, but it seems likely that if the pumps are switched off the water table will rise and the works could be completely submerged.