Limekilns at Charlestown

A very bright, sunny day.

We went out and about in the small village of Charlestown on the North Bank of the Firth of Forth. We came across the remains of Limekilns, seen in the photo, see also the map.


It is difficult to imagine today, but Charlestown was once one of the biggest and most important industrial centres in Scotland. By 1774 the limekilns and harbour were served by the Elgin Railway, which also provided a link to Dunfermline. This originally had wooden rails and the wagons were hauled by horses, for whom stables and a granary were built.

The village was located on higher ground a little to the north of the coast. The 30ft cliffs overlooking the sea had limekilns quarried into them: six initially, the number eventually growing to 14. These remain today, besides what is now the approach road to a new housing estate. Opposite the foot of the kilns is the harbour created to carry the quicklime and the coal to the rest of Scotland and beyond.

Lime production diminished from the 1930s and the limekilns at Charlestown finally closed in 1956. Work on their restoration began in about 1990 and today it is still possible to get a feel for the scale of what was once done here: though not the associated noise, heat and the smell.