Lime kilns

There are remains of hundreds of lime kilns around Cumbria. The kiln was set into the side of a shallow hill, so that carts could deliver limestone and firewood to the top. After burning slowly for at least 24 hours, the calcinated limestone, quicklime, was removed at the bottom, mainly for use on local fields by farmers to improve the fertility of acidic soils.

[Babs]

A fascinating piece of history.

[Peter Grave]

Interesting shot & history.Probably some of the quick lime they sent out to the colony (Aus) too get rid of the corpses !!!

[Harbie]

What an interesting capture and description!!

[Tony]

Lovely capture of that piece of history. Great description.

[Denise Wood]

Terrific capture :)

[Bep]

Interesting capture.

[sally agnew]

Interesting image and narrative :)

[Helen]

Interesting capture & narrative, thanks for sharing.

[Pyrrhula]

A great shot of this lovely wall . Interesting information.

[Ann Williams]

Lovely old stone structures Shirley.

[ShirleyB]

@onewing @peterlgrave @harbie @tonydebont @gilbertwood @gijsje @hermann @dizzyd @pyrrhula @flowerfairyann Sorry I am so behind with my thanks and comments. I have made a point of looking at your wonderful shots and getting my own posted but have had no time to comment or reply. Thank you once again for you lovely comments. There are lot of lime kilns in this area because the stone in this area is predominantly on limestone. Lime form the kilns was also used in lime mortar used for plastering houses, but it had to be crushed once it had been burnt for this job.