Quarrying - Mining and The Geology of Mumbles

Lime Kiln Operation
By Luke Toft

Extracted   from ‘Lime Burning on the Gower Peninsula's Limestone Belt,’
by L. A. Toft Industrial Archaeology  A.B. Searle, a furnace technologist,

The production of lime is an art which depends, largely on the skill of the lime burner, and most of the statements which imply that lime burning is simple and easy to control are misleading, by those who have little or no knowledge of the subject. The main principles involved are simple and capable of accurate scientific explanation, but the limitations imposed by existing (vertical) kilns are such that there is necessarily much more ‘art’ than ‘science’ employed in producing lime.