Lime Kilns in Worcestershire

Lime Kilns in Worcestershire Nils Wilkes Acknowledgements I first began this project in September 2012 having noticed a number of limekilns annotated on the Ordnance Survey County Series First Edition maps whilst carrying out another project for the Historic Environment Record department (HER). That there had been limekilns right across Worcestershire was not something I was aware of, particularly as the county is not regarded to be a limestone region. When I came to look for books or documents relating specifically to limeburning in Worcestershire, there were none, and this intrigued me. So, in short, this document is the result of my endeavours to gather together both documentary and physical evidence of a long forgotten industry in Worcestershire. In the course of this research I have received the help of many kind people. Firstly I wish to thank staff at the Historic Environmental Record department of the Archive and Archaeological Service for their patience and assistance in helping me develop the Limekiln Database, in particular Emma Hancox, Maggi Noke and Olly Russell. I am extremely grateful to Francesca Llewellyn for her information on Stourport and Astley; Simon Wilkinson for notes on Upton-upon-Severn; Gordon Sawyer for his enthusiasm in locating sites in Strensham; David Viner (Canal and Rivers Trust) in accessing records at Ellesmere Port; Bill Lambert (Worcester and Birmingham Canal Trust) for involving me with the Tardebigge Limekilns Project; Pat Hughes for her knowledge of the lime trade in Worcester and Valerie Goodbury for her article on the West Malvern Limekilns and her general advice; 1 INDEX Page 3…………..Introduction Page 4..………..Limestone in Worcestershire Page 7………....The Limeburning Process Page 9 ……..…..Limeburning in 75 Worcestershire Parishes Page 65 …………Appendix A – George Hunt (Evesham Architect, Builder and Lime Manufacturer) Page 67 …………Appendix B – Limeburners in Worcestershire Page 77 …………Appendix C – Extracts from Croome Estate Accounts Books Page 79 …………Appendix D – The Himbleton Tramway The Proposed Canal Branch from Himbleton to Upton Snodsbury and Broughton Hackett The Proposed Worcester and Broome Railway (via Himbleton) Page 81 …………Appendix E – Worcestershire Incidents with a Lime or Limekiln connection Page 89 …………Appendix F - Miscellaneous Newspaper Cuttings relating to Lime or Limeburning Page 90 …………Appendix G - Database of Limekiln Sites in Worcestershire “Limekiln on Abberley Hill” c1784 Burley – Lear Drawings Collection WAAS Ref: X899:192 BA 2432 52A 2 INTRODUCTION Whereas, in many parts of the United Kingdom, numerous good examples of limekilns still remain, in Worcestershire there is now very little visible evidence of a once widespread industry. Much of what does remain lies in woodland, slowly decaying, but protected in part by the fact that they cannot be reached by the plough. Some 141 limekiln sites have been identified across the county, with field names and place names providing evidence for over one hundred additional sites where limekilns would once have existed. Despite the seeming large number, there are now only two sites in the county where complete limekiln structures have survived, they being at Pirton and Stanford Bridge. The early indications are that limekilns at a third site at Tardebigge may be fairly complete but proper excavation is required to establish that that is the case. There are three further substantial limekiln structures at Abberley and Martley and West Malvern, where the draw-holes are still completely visible but the pots have either been filled in or removed. At a small number of locations there is evidence of limekiln sites in the form of earthworks, some with the remains of stone or brickwork. In total, there are the visible remains of 31 limekilns (22% of known sites), but it must be stressed, some are barely evident. Similar limekiln research has been carried out in neighbouring county of Herefordshire, where 252 limekiln sites have been identified, with extant remains at over one hundred of those locations (40% of known sites). (1) Limeburning in Worcestershire was on the decline from the 1870’s as evidenced by the diminishing number of limeburners recorded in the census and the comparison of the number of limekilns on the first and second editions of the Ordnance Survey County Series maps. That said, new limekilns were still being constructed in the early twentieth century in the parishes of Pirton, Broughton Hackett and White Ladies Aston. For the limekilns that survive there is little legal protection to help preserve them, none being listed for instance, although all 250 sites are now recorded on the County’s Historic Environment Record. So it is particularly encouraging to learn that efforts are being made to conserve the unique bank of five limekilns at Tardebigge New Wharf. Work is currently being carried out by the “Worcester Birmingham and Droitwich Canals Society” to remove and control much of the vegetation that has been enveloping the area, and now, with the backing of the “Canal and Rivers Trust”, funding is being sought in order to prevent further deterioration of the limekilns. With physical evidence of limekilns being somewhat sparse it has been necessary to look at documentary evidence in order to discover other limekiln sites and to provide a broader picture of the lime industry in Worcestershire. This document is the result of that research. (1) Goodbury V. 1994 Herefordshire Limekilns - A Dissertation 3 LIMESTONE IN WORCESTERSHIRE Sources of Limestone in Worcestershire Worcestershire is perhaps not widely regarded as a limestone region, particularly when compared to carboniferous rich areas such as the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales, the chalk areas of the North and South Downs or the oolitic limestone area of the Cotswolds. Nevertheless, there is surprising amount of limestone in the county, which generally does not outcrop and so has to be won from beneath the surface. There are many old limestone quarries which are still visible and often, where there were quarries, lime kilns were constructed close by. Broadly, there are three significant areas of limestone quarrying and lime production within Worcestershire. (See map on following page) 1. The west of the county including Stanford, Eastham, Stoke Bliss, Suckley, Martley and Rock 2. A central area from Strensham, through Pirton, White Ladies Aston and Broughton Hackett to Himbleton. 3. The east of the county including Church Lench, Cleeve Prior and The Littletons. The importation of lime into Worcestershire There is evidence to show that some lime was brought into the county, firstly by transporting it on the River Severn and later by means of the canals and then by rail. The lime that was produced in Worcestershire was not on an industrial scale and hence was mainly used by the estates and farms that manufactured it. For developing towns, where builders required lime to produce mortar, it was easier and cheaper to acquire the lime through merchants who had brought the lime in along the waterway system. Much of the lime imported into the county is thought to have originated from Bristol. In the mid seventeenth century, an action was brought by Widow Joan Chance of Worcester against one Anthony Chance for non-delivery of lime and copper from Bristol (1). In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Gloucester Port Books show that lime was being transported on the Severn(2) and in 1754, R.R.Angerstein noted in his travel diary that lime from Bristol “is packed in barrels and sent all over the country for mortar and fertiliser” (3) In Bewdley, the Bridge Wardens accounts often refer to “Clee lime” (ie: from Clee Hill in Shropshire) prior to 1662 (4), but this material must have been brought in by cart as there is no suitable waterway by which to transport it. With the arrival of the railway in the mid eighteenth century and the production of lime on an industrial scale, merchants began to operate from the goods depots in towns (and some villages) throughout the county, thus ensuring that lime was easily and readily available. However, in Worcestershire the small scale manufacture of lime still continued, eventually ceasing at the outbreak of the World War II. It is likely that the last working limekiln was that at Pirton on the Croome Estate. 4 5 The uses of lime in Worcestershire The act of liming and marling of cultivated land was revived in the 17th century, having all but ceased since the 14th century (5). The purpose of this process was primarily to help improve the condition of soil by neutralising its acidity and to break up clay. It was also added to heaps of “wreck” to make the “best of all compost”, according to the President of the Agricultural Society in the early part of the nineteenth century, wreck being weeds gathered from fallow land (6). In 1794 Pomeroy records that “The principal manures are, the production of the stable, farmyard, and lime kiln, judiciously applied by good farmers, according to the respective qualities of the soil; the latter of these, however, is generally spread over the land without any previous mixture, a habit which requires regulation” (7). Farmers also came to recognise that the application of lime was beneficial for growing clover and turnips as well as being used as a remedy to help prevent blight on hop fields.(8) Of equal importance was the presence of lime in the building industry where it was used for making mortar and plaster. Some buildings received lime wash which helped to protect the walls, as the coating would dry to a hard waterproof skin. It also provided the opportunity to add colour dye to the lime wash as an alternative to the usual white finish. It was not just houses that received the treatment, as illustrated in 1684, when the low water level of the River Avon prevented Bristol Lime being transported to Little Comberton, forcing the wardens to postpone the whitewashing of the church till the following spring.

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