Group Of Three Limekilns Approximately 160 Metres South Of The Cliff House

A group of three limekilns, dating to the mid-to-late 19th century, situated approximately 160 metres south of The Cliff house. Constructed primarily of handmade red brick, with some earth covering, the kilns are set within a quarry bottom, utilising the chalk bedrock and rubble banks, with some brick facing.

The south-eastern kiln, located at TA 0695 2039, is a roughly rectangular structure measuring approximately 11 metres long, 6 metres wide, and 3 metres high. It features a pair of brick-built, open-topped kiln pots positioned about 1 metre apart, each approximately 4 metres deep and 4 metres in diameter at the mouth, tapering to 1 metre at the base. A round-headed draw-tunnel, approximately 5 metres long, 2 metres high at the mouth, and tapering inwards, provides access to the kilns from the west front. The tunnel's inner end is half-domed, with a narrow vertical ventilation flue above and segmental-arched draw-holes into the base of the kiln pots on either side. To the north and south sides of the kiln mound are single round-arched tunnels, both about 2 metres high and 2 metres long, with similar half-domed inner ends and draw-holes. The draw-holes themselves are roughly 0.5 metres square, with a recessed segmental arch set within a larger arched panel, using bull-nosed bricks.

Approximately 8 metres to the west (at TA 0694 2038), separated by a trackway, is a single-pot kiln featuring a brick-built, open-topped pot of similar dimensions to those within the first kiln, with a tapering round-headed draw-tunnel, 2 metres high and 2 metres long, entering from the east. A further 20 metres to the north (at TA 0693 2040) stands a similar single-pot kiln, its draw-tunnel facing south towards the others.

The kiln mounds were partially obscured by vegetation at the time of the survey, but the structures are generally well-preserved. A fourth kiln, located further north, was destroyed in the late 1980s. These kilns appear to be continuous in design and offer a useful comparison with earlier, smaller intermittent kilns found in a neighboring quarry. The group demonstrates developments in the scale and technology of the limekiln industry. They represent the only known surviving examples of this type of kiln in Lincolnshire and Humberside, which was once a thriving region for lime production.