Meldon Lime Kiln and Quarries

Meldon Lime Kiln And Quarries are located below Meldon Dam, near Okehampton, Devon.

Quarrying of limestone at Meldon was taking place as early as the 18th century when a number of small quarries were being worked on the east side of the river. These workings are linked to the general improvement in agriculture in the 18th and 19th century which led to an increased demand for locally obtainable fertilisers. The very limited deposits of limestone in the Lower Carboniferous rocks of the area suddenly assumed a great importance and Meldon lime which was of high quality, was much sought after. The burnt lime was spread onto fields to reduce the acidity of the local soils and increase their fertility.

An estate map of Okehampton Park of 1790 shows a small lime kiln, used for burning the limestone, which is still visible today, overtaken by nature, built against the edge of what seems to be an even earlier quarry on the east side of the West Okement river. The quarried lime was taken to a charging platform at the top of the kiln and tipped down its circular shaft, sandwiched between layers of charcoal. A fire was ignited at the bottom of the kiln through a firegrate inside the arch at the back and the mixture of limestone and charcoal was burned slowly at high temperature. When cooled, the resulting quick-lime was shovelled out in lump form through the fire grate straight onto carts and taken away by local farmers.

To extract limestone, a considerable quantity of overlying rocks of little economic value had to be removed and in doing a large amount of waste was created. Whilst the quarry on the west side was still fairly small, map evidence shows that buildings, including more limekilns and a house clustered around its northern edge. As the quarry expanded these were destroyed and replaced by structures further to the north. Tipping of waste also encroached and destroyed some of these later 19th century buildings and continued beyond the viaduct.

Due to a shortage of space created by the river on one side and the steeply rising ground on the other, meant that disposal of waste was a continual problem and was solved by the creation of linear waste heaps. Waste was removed by trucks running on temporary rails and dumped into well defined linear heaps on both sides of the river. The finger shaped dumps on the eastern side are the most striking earthworks on the site, their history is complex and when the quarries were in full production their form would have changed on an almost hourly basis.