Gratuitous Industrial Archaeology from Haltwhistle

Since I'm short of subject matter just now (c'mon, Shrewsbury trip...) I thought I'd feature some industrial buildings from our recent Haltwhistle.

The first evening, we took a little stroll out of the village (directed by a helpful leaflet) in search of the Fell Chimney, which is pictured below:-

 
This chimney, and the occasional footings that survive in association are the last vestiigial traces of the East End Pit, which was in operation prior to the 1840s.

Here's a close-up of the entrance to the rakehole at the base of the chimney:-

The bricks look rather early, as they're rough in appearance and are apparently hand-made. 

This entire valley was a focus of induetrial activity throughout the nineteenth century, with collieries, limeworks, a woollen mill and a fireclay works all represented here.  A chimney associated with South Tyne Pit, which was the successor of the East Pit, still survives, in association with some fine industrial buildings which are, unfortunately, in a poor state of repair:-

Sooner or later, I fear these will go the way of the other industrial structures which once proliferated along the Haltwhistle Burn.

One last view now, of a pair of lime kilns:-

The principle of operation is straightforward, either in draw kilns like these or the much simpler clamp kilns.  Alternating layers of coal and limestone are loaded into the interior (often from the top), the whole collection is burned for several days, and the lime is raked out from the front.  These little structures are very prolific - keep an eye open for them on maps or while you're out walking.  They were especially useful in areas of poor acidic soils - as well as being used in construction, the lime was used to improve farmland.