The next phase of our conservation works to Bower Yard Lime Kilns are nearly complete. CBS Conservation Ltd from Oswestry have taken out the mudstone which failed over the Winter due to freeze thaw action and replaced it with local limestone, using lime mortar. The lime mortar should absorb any future moisture preventing it from going into the limestone. The mortar was coloured using sand to ensure that as it weathers it will beld in with that existing on this very historic structure, some of the oldest Lime Kilns in the World Heritage Site. Contractors will return to the site for the next few weeks to ‘scratch back’ the lime mortar to assist its curing or hardening and then the scaffold and safety fence will be removed to allow visitors to peer inside the structure. We are investigating whether we could place some small lights inside the kilns to help people understand how they would have worked.
