On Monday 6th July 2026, 13 of us had an enjoyable day at Llanymynech Lime works. We were met in the old stables by our guide, Martyn, who volunteers at the Scheduled Monument. He gave us a history of the site, telling us that the Romans had quarried the cliffs above the lime works followed down the ages by others who built stoves at the quarry face to burn the limestone.
There was a Welsh quarry and an English quarry side by side which stayed as separate entities until the mid 19th century when they were amalgamated.
The canal arrived in Llanymynech in early 1800 followed by the railway in 1870 enabling the limestone to be ferried to where it was needed.
Martyn gave us a tour of the site, taking us to the bottom of the gravity fed incline plane, the remains of the tally house where the stone was weighed and logged and the large Hoffman kiln built in 1899 to replace earlier less efficient kilns.
The Hoffman Kiln is a large oval building with a flat roof which we went into to fully understand the packing of the limestone into walls, a gap being left between each wall. These were filled with coal through small holes in the roof. This system of construction continued right round the kiln in an anticlockwise fashion. The coal was then set alight which heated the limestone to 1000 degrees and this intense heat would light the coal on the other side of the wall. This operation continued right round the kiln in a continuous process.
An advertisement for men to work at the quarry asked for men with thick skin, no doubt to withstand all the burns they inevitably received. The kiln and site was closed in 1914. Although there are suggestions as to why it closed, Martyn said they are still trying to find the answers.
After our tour ended we sat either outside or in the cool of the stables to eat our packed lunch.
Thanks are due to Helen for arranging this most enjoyable outing.
Footnote.
Entry to this fascinating site is free. Since returning home, Helen has received a message from Martyn expressing "Many thanks for the kind and generous donations" made by our members.
Don