Kilhoyle Lime Works, Donald’s Hill, Gortnarney Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 0PZ

The Kilhoyle Lime Works comprises a large lime kiln situated on the south-west facing slopes of Donald’s Hill, near Kings Fort (Historic Monuments Reference: LDY 17:5). The stone structure is built into the hillside and presents a flat facade approximately eight metres wide and four metres high. The parapet is crumbling, and there is a hole in the centre of the facade through which debris is eroding. At the base are two brick-lined openings, each with an exposed steel lintel, representing the kiln openings that lead to flue openings at the rear. The brickwork within these openings curves towards the flues. A flat grassed yard extends for five to six metres in front of the kilns before the hillside falls steeply. The sides of the structure are embedded within the hillside. Above, crumbling remains of parapets and two deep recesses are visible over the kiln flues. An overgrown path or rodden leads above the kiln in a straight line through a cutting to a quarry located on Donald’s Hill. A second, largely ruined, kiln is associated with the quarry higher up the hill to the north. A series of cascading, man-made waterfalls in stone and concrete are situated to the north-west of the main kiln.

A quarry was indicated on a map from 1830, but the kiln itself was not depicted until 1848. A ‘tramway’ was marked on an Ordnance Survey Map from 1924, rising from Gortnarney Road directly to the Kilhoyle Lime Works. The works were last owned by Dr Adams of Garvagh and closed approximately 50 years ago, shortly after the Second World War, according to a local resident. The structure is currently derelict and of industrial archaeological interest. Construction of the works is dated between 1840 and 1859.