Lime kiln

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Disused lime kiln set into a bank at the S end of the Rathcunningham Road (near the shore of Strangford Lough), c.1.5 miles N of Killyleagh.

The kiln is built into a rubble faced bank, the top of which (where the limestone would have been loaded) is overgrown. To the bank face is the semicircular headed arch where the lime would have been taken after firing. It is rubble lined with brick voussoirs to the arch and is now partly filled with assorted rubbish.

There are farm outbuildings to the S of the bank and a small jetty to the lough shore to the E.

Historical information

Farm buildings (and a house) shown around this site on the OS maps of 1834 and 1859, but it is impossible to tell whether there was a lime kiln on the site at either of these dates. The presence of brick to the arched recess of this kiln could suggest a later 19th century structure, however, it may merely indicate a partial rebuilding, or repair, to a much older kiln. The farm buildings belonged to a James Harper in the 1861 valuation

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/1/3/24 OS map, 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 24.
2 PRONI OS/6/3/24/2 OS map, 1st rev., 1859, Co. Down 24.
3 PRONI Second valuation, Killyleagh, 1861. [In print in PRONI search room and Linen Hall Library.]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Disused lime kiln built into a rubble faced bank by a roadside.