Panel 2 - A Living from Lime - 1770 to 1860

The agricultural revolution which swept the country during the second half of the 18th century, with new forms of crop rotation and methods of soil improvement to increase yields, led to the use of lime as a fertiliser. In areas of the country such as North Northumberland, where limestone is the predominant rock, the limestone was burned in small kilns for use locally. Remains of these kilns, often mistaken for ruined defensive towers, can frequently be seen in the countryside between here and the Scottish Border.

It was realised that other areas of the country were not so fortunate. A thriving trade emerged in the burning and shipping of lime at the ports along the limestone-rich North Northumberland coast such as Holy Island, Beadnell and Seahouses.

In 1768 a lease was granted to quarry for lime south of the village at North Sunderland Snook, to mine the local coal seams for fuel, to erect these massive lime kilns and to ship the end product to other parts of the country.

The limestone was brought by waggonway from the quarries to the top of the kilns, from where it was fed into the kiln together with the coal at a ratio of about five parts of limestone to one of coal. The chamber was able to generate temperatures of over 1,000°C. After burning, the lime fell to the base of the kiln where it was raked out and allowed to cool. It was then loaded onto the waiting sailing ships alongside.

The kilns continued to work until 1858 when Seahouses' last shipment of lime took place. Between the building of the limekilns and 1841 the population of the harbour area grew from just a few to over five hundred.

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