Budle Bay Lime Kiln

Continuing our love of lime kilns at the Fabulous North, we found this one recently on a walk around Budle Bay. Despite this area being known as 'kiln point', I was surprised to find some ruined kilns on the coast path as they don't appear on Google maps.

These draw kilns are in a rather sorry state sadly - one of the three original arches has collapsed and the other two are in a poor condition. They would have been in use from around 1860 until the late 1890s and lime produced here would have been shipped from the port at Waren Mill, which at the time was one of Europe's busiest ports. Hard to believe these days, given how quiet and peaceful the area around Budle Bay is.

There is very little info out there on these kilns, other than they have quite attractive double brick arches, though I'm not actually sure what impact this had on the production of lime.

The backdrop to the kiln was really the highlight of the visit for me. This part of the coast is beautiful and the couple of times I have visited, the tide has been out and the mudflats have been uncovered. I have been lucky enough to spot a huge variety of birds feeding there including Shelducks, Godwits, Redshank and thousands of Barnacle Geese which was quite the spectacle. A definite must see for birdwatchers.