NHER 55686 (Monument record) - Cantley Sugar Factory

Built in 1912 by a Dutch company, it ran at a loss and closed in 1916. After the First World War sugar imports from the continent dried up, so the English Beet Sugar Corporation was founded and in 1920 the factory at Cantley was reopened. As of 1999 (date of survey) the factory had a permanent workforce of 112, often doubling in the processing season. The factory was supplied by nearly 900 sugar beet farmers from a radius of over 40 miles. Production averaged a processing rate of 8,200 tonnes of beet a day. The machinery generates enough motive power to drive dynamos, which supply enough electricity to run the factory systems without help from the national grid.
Over its century long history the site has been vastly expanded to its current 200 hectares.
See (S1).
W. Arnold (HES), 15 June 2011.