Lime kiln

Summary

An early-C18 lime kiln.

Reasons for Designation

The early-C18 lime kiln on the riverbank behind Waterside House, 17 Lower Street, Pulborough, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
 
Architectural interest:
 
*  it is a rare, early example of an industrial draw kiln for burning lime;
 
*  it is well constructed in coursed rubble stone, with round-headed, brick-lined openings, a barrel roof and distinctive drawing eyes;
 
*  apart from the probable infill of one side with earth, the kiln is accessible and survives well.
 
Historic interest:
 
*  the kiln illustrates the economic importance of the formerly navigable River Arun to the town of Pulborough and is a rare surviving example of its C18 riverside commerce.
 
Group value:
 
*  with the nearby Willow and Malt House cottages, which respectively date from the C17 and C18.

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 brick-or-stone-lined kilns in which calcium carbonate is calcined by roasting at high temperature to release carbon dioxide, leaving quicklime. Quicklime is then slaked (hydrated) 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. 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 arches or eyes) which also feed oxygen to the fire.
 
The lime kiln on the north bank of the River Arun at Pulborough would have used locally-gathered chalk as a raw material, with the lime output being sold to builders and farmers, or taken down river to the port at Littlehampton. It was probably built in the early-C18 as it appears on the Budgen Survey of the County of Sussex, of 1724. However, this section of the river was straightened to create wharves in the later C16, so it is possible that the kiln is earlier in date. The river was in continuous development by the Arun Navigation Company throughout the C18 and the Pulborough kiln is recorded in 1789, as leased to Thomas Hampton for 99 years at £6 a year. In the C19 the Arun was connected to London by canal, but by the mid-C19 the railway usurped the river as the principal transport route. By the late C19 the dock adjacent to the kiln had probably started to silt up, as it is shown on the 1870 Ordnance Survey map, but not on the 1876 edition.

Details

An early-C18 lime kiln.
 
MATERIALS: the building has coursed, rubble stone walls, a lime-stained, red-brick ceiling and an earth-covered roof.
 
PLAN: the kiln is square and consists of two, side-by-side chambers which are orientated north to south. They are interconnected by two low-level draw eyes which can be seen from the eastern chamber. This chamber also has doorways to the east and south (facing the River Arun). On the western side of the kiln there is a bank on which an informal path rises and intersects the top of the western chamber. The roof here would have had an opening to allow charging with layers of charcoal and chalk. The roof is now overgrown, and the opening is no longer evident.
 
EXTERIOR: the kiln is around 5m in height and the walls are around 11m long. The doorways are round-headed with a red brick architrave. The top of the southern doorway is damaged. The roof is earth-covered.  
 
INTERIOR: the eastern chamber has a barrel-vaulted ceiling, which is constructed of brick in a heading bond, with a u-shaped metal bracket at its centre point. The end walls are coursed stone as are the side walls, up to around 1.5m in height. The wall that connects the two chambers has two, round-headed brick draw eyes set in a brick panel. The floor is formed of packed earth. The western chamber has probably been infilled with earth.

Sources

Books and journals
Vine, P A L, The Arun Navigation, (2007), pp 66-7

Websites
West Sussex County Council Pulborough Conservation Area Character Assessment 2018, accessed 15/1/2021 from https://horsham.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s8503/Appendix%2010_Pulborough%20CA%20and%20MP_2018-01-17%20web.pdf
West Sussex County Council EUS Report on Pulborough 2004, accessed 15/1/2021 from https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/media/1742/pulborough_eus_report_and_maps.pdf

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