Summary
A disused twin-pot lime kiln, and culvert over the Worsley Brook, dating from around 1770 and surviving as an earth mound with buried remains, brick and stone tunnels and standing brick and stone walls.
Reasons for Designation
The lime kiln and culvert, 50m north of Worsley Methodist Church, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Period: as a relatively early example of an industrial draw kiln for burning lime;
* Rarity: a relatively unusual good extant example of a canal-side lime kiln built by an estate for its own needs, and also unusual in having been illustrated while in its primary use;
* Group value: for its strong visual relationship with the contemporary listed dry docks on the opposite bank of the canal and its strong functional and spatial relationship with the scheduled and listed canal tunnel entrances and wharf, and listed sluice gates, of the coal mines 400m to the north-west;
* Survival and potential: with good survival and archaeological potential, demonstrated by archaeological evaluation.
History
Lime kilns have been in use since at least Roman times for the burning of lime, chalk, marble and calcite. Draw kilns consist of continuously-fired kilns lined with brick or stone, in which calcium carbonate is calcined by roasting at high temperature to release carbon dioxide, leaving quicklime. Although possibly emerging in the medieval period, draw kilns are well documented from the mid-C18, when there was a major uptake of the technology. Typically the limestone is tipped into the kiln from the top in alternate layers with fuel of wood, coal or coke. As the fuel burns, quicklime descends to the base where it is raked out via arched access tunnels (draw holes) which also feed oxygen to the fire, while new fuel and lime are added at the top. Quicklime is then slaked by mixing with water to become hydrated lime, which is a stable powder. Lime’s traditional uses include as a fertiliser and as a binder for building mortars and washes for walls.
Construction of the Bridgewater Canal from Worsley to Manchester began in 1759. In 1761 it opened as far as Stretford, carrying coal seven miles from the Duke of Bridgewater's mines at Worsley (National Heritage List for England – NHLE – entries 1001956, 1288256 and 1288294). The mines’ supply of cheap coal to the city (in 1762, less than half the pre-canal price) greatly aided Manchester’s early industrial expansion.
The Duke of Bridgewater’s estate required lime for agricultural and building purposes. Prior to the building of the canal, lime was brought pre-burnt, probably from the Peak Forest. By 1764 the estate was burning its own lime. However the site of the Worsley lime kilns was still shown as an orchard on an estate plan of 1764. They were also not mentioned in Arthur Young’s journey along the canal, which took place in the summer of 1768. These kilns were thus probably not related to building the initial lengths of the canal, or to burning the local lime-bearing marl which had been discovered when the canal was begun. Instead they and the mortar mill were probably built chiefly to provide mortar for the brick ceilings and other structures in the coal mines. They probably also served the extension of the canal in the 1770s and 1810s.
A reference in estate accounts of 1771 to the burning of Welsh lime at Worsley almost certainly does relate to these kilns, as no other lime kilns are known in Worsley. This suggests that the kilns were probably built between 1768 and 1771. The mortar mill here probably replaced the water-powered combined corn and mortar mill in Worsley, which both Arthur Young and Sir Joseph Banks described in the 1760s. That was probably at the bottom of Mill Brow, below the Old Warke mill dam. Lime burning continued at these kilns until at least 1810, but it is not presently (2021) known when it ceased. Unexamined documentary archives might provide more information on this.
An estate plan of 1785 shows a canal arm here running south-eastwards from the main line, as far as what is now Stable Fold. To the west of the canal arm, in the location of the present-day mound, two circular features depicted were probably the pots of the lime kilns. At the north-east corner of the mound was a building aligned south-west to north-east, which spanned the width of the canal arm and crossed into the mound’s footprint. This was probably the mortar mill. The mound’s boundary crossed the Worsley Brook, marking the exit of a culvert to the west which was around 55m long. This arrangement is also shown in a sketch by John Claude Nattes dated 1807. This shows that the mortar mill had two tall lower storeys rising as far as the top of the kiln mound, and a third storey, which had two rows of small windows and a loading door with an external platform supported from the ground and protected by a roof.
Once lime burning ceased, the eastern pot is known to have been used to burn rubbish; probably parts of scrapped canal boats, to retrieve metal fittings. A dry dock was built to the north of the kilns for breaking up the boats. After all use ceased, the eastern pot was filled in with refuse. C19 and early-C20 maps document expansion and contraction of the building covering the canal arm, and the addition of buildings next to and on top of the mound. By the 1908 1:2,500 OS map (surveyed 1904) the mortar mill had been demolished. By 1936 the canal arm had been infilled and buildings removed from the mound.
Local ground levels fell by over a metre in the 1950s due to mining subsidence. By the 1980s the eastern end of the south wall of the mound had collapsed due to tree-root action. Between 1985 and 1987 the mound was repaired with substantial rebuilding.
Around 2001 the site was developed for housing, with car parking in the area of the former canal arm and mortar mill. Early in 2017 trees and tarmac surfacing were removed from the mound and a landscaping scheme completed. Some of the stone blocks added to the north-west corner in the 1980s were taken down, leaving only two courses on top of the original wall. The ground level was raised slightly to the south of the kiln mound, and by around 2m to the north, and lowered by around 1m at the northern end of the east wall. Tarmac was removed from the top of the mound and the brick ring of the eastern pot presented within a grassed garden with a similar feature in the approximate position of the western pot.
History of investigations
Non-archaeological excavation of the top of the mound in the late 1980s uncovered a brick, chimney-like structure approximately 1.5m in diameter, and filled with ash, within a surrounding mound of silt.
In April 2001 an archaeological desk-based assessment was carried out by Dr Peter Arrowsmith of the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit. This confirmed that these are the largely in-situ remains of the lime kilns. The arch in the south wall was interpreted as a draw hole for the eastern pot, with the partial arch in the east wall providing access and extra draught. The two tunnels accessed from the culvert were also interpreted as a probable draw hole (the easterly tunnel) and secondary access (the westerly tunnel) for the western pot. The primary access to the western pot was thought to have been via a tunnel or cutting in the western face of the mound, indicated by an indentation in the western boundary as drawn on the 1785 estate plan. The base of the kiln pots was estimated to be around 3m below ground level. The revetting and culverting of the brook were interpreted as alterations to an original bankside arrangement, possibly to provide access to the forge to the west, and to the mound top, from Barton Road. The recessed north-east corner was interpreted as an original feature to accommodate the mortar mill. If this is correct, it must have been extended southwards as it now sections the eastern arch and tunnel. Nattes’ drawing shows the eastern arch obscured by the mortar mill, suggesting an L-plan if the north-east corner did extend into the mound.
No archaeological evaluation or watching brief appears to have been undertaken in the area of the canal arm and mortar mill prior to the housing development.
In 2010 West Yorkshire Archaeology Service carried out some archaeological evaluation in advance of landscaping and interpretation on the top of the mound. This located the top of the eastern pot and confirmed its construction as a stone skin which was lined with engineering bricks, possibly after the stone skin deteriorated due to heat damage. The outer face of the pot was banked up with silty deposits. The mouth of the eastern pot was smaller than indicated by the historic plans. The western pot might therefore still be in situ, especially at lower levels, despite not being located by a trench dug across its expected location.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: a disused twin-pot lime kiln, and culvert over the Worsley Brook, dating from around 1770 and surviving as an earth mound with buried remains, brick and stone tunnels and standing brick and stone walls.
DESCRIPTION: the kiln is sited between the Bridgewater Canal and the Worsley Brook.
The eastern end of the kiln is visible as a mound approximately 4m high and 25m square, defined by walls of stone and brick, of varying heights. The north side has a wall at its eastern end, of large, squared stone blocks with herringbone tooling, rising approximately 1.5m above the adjacent brick-paved car parking to the north, and topped with two courses of small square stone blocks, added in the 1980s. The north-east corner is formed of ashlar blocks with a slight batter, and rises approximately 4m above the surface of the brick-paved car parking to the east, which is lower than the parking to the north; to the north of the mound, a retaining wall of reused herringbone-tooled stone blocks divides the two parking areas. Mason’s marks are incised in some stones of the north wall including its east end.
The northern half of the east wall (probably rebuilt in the 1980s) is of hand-made brick. It runs for 9.8m on a line approximately 0.5m to the east of the end of the north wall, and has a west return at its north end, aligned with the inner face of the north wall. This brick wall is battered, and laid in English Garden Wall bond with four courses of stretchers between header courses. At its northern end, from around 1m above ground level, rises a vertical buttress approximately 1.8m wide, added in the 1980s. At the south end of the brick wall is a 2.5m eastern return (probably rebuilt in the 1980s) which is vertical, and laid in stretcher bond. To the south of this, the east wall continues in stone for a further 8.5m. Up to about 3m above ground level, this is battered by stepping of courses, and has herringbone-tooled blocks. Above this, smaller blocks were added in the 1980s. At the north end is a half-arch (rebuilt in the 1980s) with a sloped impost, an inner ring of squared stones and an outer ring of projecting, smaller stone blocks. This is supported by a battered brick infill, with an eastward-projecting narrow brick buttress at the outward corner, with downward-sloping bed joints and consequent battered face. The outer faces of the inner stone ring of the arch are incised with pairs of X-shaped marks.
The battered stone east wall returns westward at its south end, with a rounded south-east corner. There is a slight step out along an irregular vertical joint where the south-east corner meets the south wall; to the west of this joint approximately 2m of the wall was rebuilt in the 1980s. This portion of the south wall is of the same design and construction as the east wall, with herringbone-tooled stonework (reused from former upper levels) with a gradually-decreasing batter rising to around 3m above ground level, and smaller stone setts (added in the 1980s) for around 1m above this. A mason’s mark is incised in a block of this part of the wall. For a further 7.5m to the west, the original wall comprises smaller, squared blocks laid in random courses up to around 3m high, topped by the same upper walling as at the east end. At the western end of this section, the south wall meets a brick southward return, added in the 1980s. In the south wall at ground level, is a stone arch which is truncated by the brick return. The arch has two inner rings of brick.
The brick southward return is vertical and runs for 6.5m to the north bank of the Worsley Brook, with a slight step westward around 1.5m to the south of the eastern end of the south wall. This wall is built of modern, crease-faced bricks. At the brook, its upper 1m makes a slight westward return to meet the western half of the south wall. Its lower 2m continues for a further 7.5m to the south, slightly curving eastwards and spanning the brook with a segmental arch which is lower at the south end than the north end. This section of wall spanning the brook is coped with historic squared stone blocks. The north bank of the brook is retained by a stone wall with a brick wall above it. This is coped with modern flagstones and a painted steel fence.
The western end of the south wall of the mound (rebuilt in the 1980s approximately 5m south of its original line) runs approximately along the north bank of the brook, at the top of slight bank rising from Barton Road. The wall comprises herringbone-tooled stone blocks and is around 1.5m high and 15m long. At its western end it makes a short north return which runs into the mound.
Below this return the mound slopes down to the west and meets a modern retaining wall around 1.5m high, of small square stone blocks. To the west of this is brick-paved car parking running up to the west wall of The Granary and ramping up at its north end to further brick-paved parking between the mound and the boundary with the Bridgewater Canal. The stone retaining wall returns along the western end of the north side of the mound, stepping up as the ground rises and curving inward at the entrance to the mound top.
The eastern pot is constructed with an inner skin of engineering bricks and an outer skin of stone bonded with lime mortar. It has an external diameter of 4.4m and internal diameter of 2.9m. The top of the pot is visible as a brick ring in the grassed mound top, filled with gravel. A similar feature has been placed where the western kiln pot is thought to remain buried within the lower levels of the mound. The external fill of the mound is silt.
The brook culvert has side walls of hand-made brick, with a sand bank against the north wall. The shallow roof vault is also of hand-made brick. There are two lengths of this vault, each around 12m long. These are separated by a 2m-wide transverse barrel vault, also of hand-made bricks. The east arch of the western vaulted section has a segment of stone blocks where it springs from the bank of the culvert. To the west of this arch, the vault is slightly narrower, with a vertical north wall. Immediately to the north of the stone arch segment is the east mouth of the western of the two tunnels. This tunnel has an egg-shaped section and is approximately 2m high, 1.5m wide and lined with hand-made bricks. It curves northward from the entrance, running slightly uphill for approximately 7.5m before being blocked by an inserted brick wall. To the east of this tunnel’s mouth and at ninety degrees to it is the south mouth of the eastern tunnel. This tunnel is approximately 2m wide and 1.5m high with a segmental-arched profile of hand-made bricks. It runs northward for about 6m to a rear wall which has an outer ring with infill, both of hand-made brick.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: this is focussed on the known surviving remains of the kiln mound and the brook culvert and immediately surrounding area. Further remains may survive outside the scheduled area.
The scheduled area is drawn to but does not include the boundary with Barton Road. It follows the line of the south-east face of the culvert over the brook, and to the north of the brook is drawn 2m from the standing remains of the east end of the kiln block. It extends 2m beyond the north-west return of the mound, running parallel with it as far as (but not including) the property boundary with the Bridgewater Canal. The northern boundary runs westward from (but does not include) the property boundary with the Bridgewater Canal, to the eastern corner of the building called The Granary. The western boundary follows the line of (but does not include) the east wall of The Granary and continues on this line to the road.
EXCLUSIONS: all modern walls, fences and surfaces, as well as modern features such as interpretation panels, seating and litter bins on the mound top, are excluded from the scheduling; however the ground beneath all of these features is included in the scheduling. Modern services (gas, water, and drainage pipes, as well as conduits for electricity and telecommunication cabling and inspection/access chambers) are also excluded from the scheduling, although the ground through which they pass remains included in the scheduling. Fence and wall lines used to define the extent of the designation all lie immediately outside the scheduled area.
