New sample from Wakefield Arms pub may prove city bricklayer invented most common type of cement

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‘Wakefield’s ingenuity is all around us and civilisation as we know it could not exist without it.’

A bicentennial event will be held to commemorate the creator of the most commonly used cement in the world – and the former Wakefield pub that might just have proved its origins.

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In October 1824 bricklayer Joseph Aspdin working in Wakefield’s Lower Kirkgate area was granted a British patent for the invention of Portland cement, the basic component of concrete.

Wakefield Historical Society, said: “Very few communities give birth to worldwide industries.

Drawing of the Aspdin kiln used to create Portland cement and was located close to the current Wakefield Kirkgate railway stationDrawing of the Aspdin kiln used to create Portland cement and was located close to the current Wakefield Kirkgate railway station
Drawing of the Aspdin kiln used to create Portland cement and was located close to the current Wakefield Kirkgate railway station

“Portland cement has been central to the development of the modern world, with billions of tonnes used annually.

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“Its early history is shrouded in mystery and there have been 200 years of argument about who invented it and and where.”

The historical society said Mr Aspdin’s patent might have seemed to have settled the debate, but experts have hugely differed on whether it is like the cement we use today.

Now, research by the University of Leeds’ Professor Ian Richardson, Wakefield Historical Society and colleagues have examined a sample of the only remaining original Aspdin concrete – on the former Wakefield Arms pub, near Wakefield Kirkgate railway station.

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Professor Ian RichardsonProfessor Ian Richardson
Professor Ian Richardson

The society said: “Joseph Aspdin called the product Portland cement because mortar made from it resembled Portland stone which was the most prestigious building stone in use in England at the time.”

Professor Richardson, an international authority on cement and its uses, will deliver a lecture on Mr Aspdin time in Wakefield and the new evidence that he not just created Portland cement, but created it in Wakefield itself.

The event will take place in the Kingswood Suite at Wakefield Town Hall on October 23 at 7pm.

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Various events and conferences are being held this year in recognition of the importance of Aspdin’s patent.

The Wakefield Arms in 2003 after its closureThe Wakefield Arms in 2003 after its closure
The Wakefield Arms in 2003 after its closure

A further event at the University of Leeds has been announced for October 21. Mr Aspdin was from Hunslet in Leeds.

The Wakefield Arms suffered multiple break-ins since its closure in 2003, as well as invasions by squatters and became widely regarded as an eyesore.

Plans have been made for a conversion and extension to create 14 flats and a cafe.

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