LIME KILNS

Limestone quarrying continues to be a major industry in several parts of Britain but the use of burned lime in agriculture to improve the fertility of land has been replaced by crushed limestone and the local limekiln has long since disappeared from use. By the end of the nineteenth century the industry had concentrated in a smaller number of large limeworks operating continuous kilns with a large output.

Although the use of small kilns is so distant in time there are still plenty of reminders of this industry to be found around the country. These range from lonely sites high in the hills of Northumberland to kilns on the beaches of mid-wales where coal to fire them was brought in by small ships.

These relics are rapidly disappearing due to the ravages of time and the changes in farming practices,and sometimes re-use of the stone from which they are built. It is well worth recording what is left before it is too late. What is here today may well be gone tomorrow.