[2] European settlement in this region after the first documented white expedition west of the Blue Mountains in 1813 was tentative, largely because of concerns about resistance from Aboriginal people.

Portland cement was a far superior building product and it caught on quickly in Europe and especially Germany but was infrequently used in Australia before the end of the 19th century.

The only remnants of cement production from this era are the two bottle kilns in the northwest corner of Portion 52 and the old brick building known as 'Raffan's Mill'.

In 1899 these pioneering industrialists sold out to the (British-owned) New Zealand Mines Trust through their agent Dr August Scheidel who bought the land, plant, and leases.

Scheidel, who "is considered the father of the modern cement industry in Australia", was born in Heidelberg and received his Ph.D. from Freiberg University in 1880.

As high temperatures were necessary, the open end was of small diameter and chimney-shaped to conserve heat and to induce greater draught through the kiln.

Two of these early bottle kilns – built of brick with iron ties and turnbuckles – and the milling plant in the northwest corner of Portion 52 stand as historical monuments to the beginning of the cement industry in NSW.

Internally there is evidence of a mezzanine level supported by 300-millimetre (12 in) timber beams, with windows and a number of unidentified operational openings having been bricked up.

Through the southern wall, extends a shaft-driven system of wooden toothed gear wheels and four 1,200-millimetre (47 in) diameter Burr Stone Grinding Mills.

[9] The remnant standing remains of the Raffan's Mill are in reasonable condition, with the shaft driven wooden-toothed gear system exposed to the elements.

[1] As at 4 July 2013, The Raffan's Mill and Brick Bottle Kilns are of State significance as outstanding and rare remnants of a nineteenth century lime and cement manufacturing plant in a still legible industrial landscape.

[1] Raffan's Mill and Brick Bottle Kilns was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 3 August 2012 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

They have outstanding local significance and landmark qualities as a picturesque remnant of the first attempt to bring the cement manufacturing industry to the town.

The Raffan's Mill and Brick Bottle Kilns are of State significance for their technical values as rare surviving examples of nineteenth century lime and cement production technologies.

The two Bottle Kilns in combination with Raffan's Mill are of State significance for being extremely rare as intact, in situ remnants of nineteenth century industrial technology.

This rarity and significance is enhanced by the juxtaposition of these relics to the continuing use of the Portland Cement Works Site, nearby, throughout the twentieth century for much larger-scale quarrying and commercial manufacture of the same product.

The Raffan's Mill and Bottle Brick Kilns are of State significance as fine examples of nineteenth-century lime and cement making equipment.

They are outstanding remnants of an industrial enterprise interrelated with the genesis and development of a rural town, as well as the precursor to a larger cement-making complex that operated through much of the twentieth century.