Slaked lime. What happened to the industry? The lime kilns today Discover What was To make clay soils more By the 1880s the lime trade was Today the lime kilns stand as a monument to the industrial era in a workable and to neutralise in decline and by 1900 seems to place not usually associated with such activity. In recent times, work the burnt lime acid soil.** have ceased production. Activity has been carried out by the National Trust which has involved parts of To make whitewash, had only been sporadic through the kilns being reinforced and altered. This is most evident around the used for? mortar and plaster.** the final years of the nineteenth The Castle Point south western pot, where the brick walls have been removed from century. On the 17th September above the draw arches and concrete lintels have been installed. Burnt lime from Lindisfarne was To destroy odours in mass probably used primarily in burials.** 1883, the Agnes left the Staithes; In 2010, the first phase of important improvements to access and agriculture. The alkali-rich slaked the last ship to depart Holy interpretation began. The old fences were improved to prevent sheep To make bleaching powder, lime kilns lime was perfect for neutralising Island laden with lime, This ship, a disinfectant.* from gaining access to the kilns, and a floor was laid in the central acidic soil and so improving along with others of Nicoll’s passageway. A new public access gate was also installed. fertility. It is also likely that some fleet, did return in the next few To make caustic soda used to Funding for this project came from National Trust Property Raffle sales of the slaked lime was used in make soap.* years but only, it seems, to in the Castle, Gift Aid on Entry money from visitors. Further funding, building mortar. To purify sugar.* collect any materials from the with thanks, was provided by the Daneway Charitable Trust. Both have many other uses: island which were needed back In papermaking.* in Dundee. In 1898, the writer Edmund Bogg noted that ‘There In water purification. Quicklime. was formerly a very important lime To make lime putty and hence In effluent gas purification. industry [but it had] gradually lime mortar.** dwindled away and the houses To destroy infected formerly occupied by workpeople bodies/carcasses in burials.** * Possibly in such use at the time have now almost become buried in To create “limelight” in theatres.** the sands’ (Jermy p.38). ** Definitely current at time of Masonry still standing in sand dunes In “self-heating” cans of food. operation of these kilns. The kilns were last fired - by near Nessend quarry island farmers - in 1900.

The Castle Point kilns are cared An industrial for by The National Trust who also maintain the earlier coastal monument lime kilns at Beadnell. The lime kilns are a Scheduled Other lime kilns in the area can Survey of the site by Addyman Archaeology, February 2009. Ancient Monument - a designation be seen at: made in recognition of the Beadnell. national significance of the site. They are one of the largest Seahouses. Join the National Trust here To join the National Trust examples of their kind anywhere Little Mill, near Longhoughton. at Lindisfarne and enjoy today, simply talk to one of in the country and certainly the hundreds of great days out. our staff. largest actively-conserved kilns Peppermoor, near Longhoughton. in the area. Christon Bank, near Embleton. Membership has never been Free entry for members - such good value. visit and enjoy over 300 beautiful houses and gardens. Further reading: Roger C. Jermy Lindisfarne’s Limestone Past: Quarries, tramways and kilns (1992). A comprehensive study of the lime industry on Holy Island, focusing on those at Castle Point. Edmund Bogg A Thousand miles of For alternative formats, wandering in the border country (1898). William Tomlinson A comprehensive guide to Northumberland (1888, please call us on 01289 389224 reprint 1968). Amanda Gow and Tom Addyman or email lindisfarne Lindisfarne Castle Limeworks, Holy Island (2009). Desk Based Assessment Feb 2009 (project AA. @nationaltrust.org.uk 1783) Addyman Archaeology for The National Trust. Photography: NTPL (Beadnell Kilns), Catherine Atkinson/Nick Lewis (NT). www.brocross.com A website by Text: Nick Lewis, Harry Beamish, John Harris. Piles of discarded lime near the Castle Point kilns. David Kitching which has an Printed on 100% recycled paper. Please recycle this leaflet after use. © National Trust 2010. National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846 Close-up view of Beadnell lime kilns excellent section on lime kilns in containing lobster pots England and Wales. www.nationaltrust.org.uk When were the kilns built? How did the burnt lime get to Why were the Permission for the development of the kilns on the site was given to Nicoll on 24th March 1860. It is not clear how long the building work where it was needed? lime kilns built took, but by the time of the 1861 census there were 35 men employed at The burnt lime was known as “quicklime” (quick = living) as it the kilns, compared with 8 men in the 1851 census. The Quarter Sessions was known to react violently if it came into contact with water. at Castle Point? Deposited Plans of Holy Island Reclamation of 1865 shows the kilns, On one occasion in 1847 a vessel from Berwick - the William - The kilns were a replacement for an associated wagonways and the jetty were all well established by that year. settled on her anchor in Holy Island harbour. Water rushed in earlier lime burning operation to through the hole and reached the lime in her hold which caused the north west of the village on Nessend Quarry a fire which was only put out by the incoming tide! Holy Island. An attempt by the Detail from Lindisfarne and Abbey by Moonlight, 1877, by John Moore, showing kilns alight. same owner to develop the works at this site had fallen foul of John Strangeways Donaldson Selby, a highly skilled operation. The Lord of the Manor of Holy Island kilnsman’s eye was critical to the and the site at Castle Point was How did the success of the venture; too hot probably chosen as it lay outside kilns work? or too cold and the desired his enclosed farmland on the reaction would not take place. island. Additionally, a route for the In the kilns, limestone and coal tramway from the limestone were added in layers at the top of The Limestone (Calcium quarry at Nessend to the kilns each pot at a ratio of about five to Carbonate) was heated at could run along the east side of the one, to allow for even burning. between 800-1000 degrees island outside the farmland. There As quicklime was removed from Celsius. This produced quicklime was room at Castle Point for the the drawing arches at the base (Calcium Oxide). Adding water works to expand if required and of the kiln, another layer of stone to quicklime would result in a being near the entrance to the Jetties and coal was added at the top. violent reaction and produce harbour would allow a new facility slaked lime (Calcium Hydroxide). Lindisfarne from the West, showing ship moored at staithes, Ralph Hedley 1883. Once loaded (which took several (Reproduced courtesy of Mr F Hoult) for shipping the burnt lime from Castle Point lime kilns days) the kilns were lit and the fire The work was dangerous, and the kilns. This was also no doubt a would spread upwards. The men at the kilns would have major factor in the choice of site. hottest part of the kiln was the often received caustic burns. Near the main gate leading into The other painting shows a set of Being well away from the village ‘burning zone’, just above the top The dust if inhaled caused lung the Castle field are the remains three tubs on the higher staith, may have been another Holy Island from the south east, of the drawing arches. Air entering damage and could in some cases of two wooden jetties which with the seaward tub being consideration as the fumes from reproduced courtesy of cause blindness. Northumberland County Council. the kiln was carefully regulated - served the lime kilns. A ship discharged into the hold of the the kilns would trouble few people The Nessend quarry from the south. could moor between the jetties vessel. Hedley has even captured out at the Point. (or ‘staithes’) allowing lime to be the dust produced by this Who worked at the quarry and loaded and coal to be unloaded. operation. The cargo of burnt Two paintings by Ralph Hedley lime appears to be shipped as Who developed Where did the the lime works? show tramways running out onto bulk or loose cargo rather than There is the staithes. Small four-wheeled in barrels. Slaked lime was used in the lime works? “ raw materials tubs appear to be designed for greater quantities than quicklime, plenty of tipping. On one, the cargo of but quicklime is less bulky so The kilns and associated operations come from? coal is being transferred in most lime was transported - such as the quarries and limestone of Selby was referring to the baskets using a pulley-wheel unslaked since slaking could be wagonways - were developed by fixed in the rigging of the ship. done anywhere. William Nicoll and Co. of Dundee, excellent quarries at Nessend on the Scotland. Nicoll was born in north shore of Holy Island, and it was here that Nicoll intended Scotland in around 1814 and quality on Detail from 1871 census, courtesy of National Archives. became a Lime Merchant in the to get his main raw material. late 1830s. He had premises on St the Island This did come at a cost to the By the 1861 census, Nicoll had At the time of the 1871 Census, Roques Lane and Seagate in integrity of the coastline as appointed Robert Dewar as his the industry had begun to Dundee. By the time of his death and coal can according to Tomlinson, writing manager for the Holy Island decline and this was reflected in in 1889, he was the owner of a at the time; “…the interesting works, and he in turn was the number of employees. number of schooners which be readily limestone caverns [on the] north of responsible for 33 employees. 11 men were employed at the operated between Dundee and the island [are] being destroyed by These included labourers, quarry and 9 employed at the Holy Island. Nicoll set about his obtained at the utilitarian aggressor.” blacksmiths and an enginesmith, kilns. John Higgins, reporting to work with great enthusiasm, but Coal did exist on the Island but and while most men came from the Crown Commissioners also insufficient caution; a bank of a moderate in small quantities and so Nicoll the island, there were a growing noted (13/9/1870): ‘I am of the kilns were built in error on Selby’s imported coal - mainly from number of Irish and Scots being opinion that W Nicoll has not been land and had to be abandoned, at cost... Scotland - on his ships, which employed. Eventually so many successful in his undertaking and Unloading coal at wood jetty the cost of several hundred pounds. would have then returned to had arrived that a small colony that he has... expended more - Holy Island, Ralph Hedley, 1883. Detail from Lindisfarne The Kennedy Limeworks, the first of J S D Selby 21 December” 1839 (Reproduced courtesy of from the West… The present structure at Castle Nicoll’s ventures on Holy Island. (Jermy, p.20) Dundee laden with burnt lime. of cottages grew up around the money than he undertook to do.’ Stephenson Clarke Shipping, 2001). Point today replaced these kilns. quarry at Nessend. (Jermy p.36)