Chinnor Lime and cement works
The Chinnor Lime Co
The Chinnor Lime Co. was founded in 1908 and began making cement in 1921. It became a public company as Chinnor Cement and Lime Ltd. in 1936. It established a quarry in the Chiltern escarpment south of the village. It expanded cement manufacturing capacity in 1928, 1939 and 1958. By 1975 it employed 160 men and expansion to double its capacity was proposed, although never realised. It closed in 1999. Its works were demolished by 2008 and in 2010–11 the site was redeveloped as a housing estate now known as Old Kiln Lakes.
Chinnor grew most quickly in the 1960s – from a population of 1,961 in the 1951 Census to 4,471 in the 1971 Census. The village was then largely concentrated around the main rectangular street plan of Station Road, Lower Road, High Street and Church Road. The hamlet of Oakley to the southwest was subsumed into the village around this time, when building along Oakley Road and the Mill Lane estate more than doubled the physical size of the village.
Rugby Cement Works
The secret park of Chinnor
When the cement works closed, the area was left to decline. However, in recent years the quarries have been recreated into a natural environment for wildlife. The story behind their redevelopment has been written by Maurice Pullen and in the document library below.
A haven for wildlife
Magnificent backdrop of the Chiltern Hills
