Description and History of Site:-
This is a large multi-faceted quarry hole with one working - extant in the 1850s - and now crossed by the B road, centred on SE1292,6437. Another smaller quarry is centred at SE1309,6443. The car park, at the junction of the B road and the minor Middle Tongue Road leading to Bewerley, lies within another small quarry working. A further, later, quarry hole from which stone can only have been extracted by raising it by crane is centred on SE1300,6439. This working is clearly associated with the standing and now-protected lime kiln which is thought to have been built in the 1860s. This is a large rectangular structure of very unusual design for which no historical detail has been located. The kiln's base now stands well below ground level (c. 3.5m below) and this level contains the two kiln draw holes visible on this side of the kiln: there may well have been two more on the opposite (north) side but this is buried in modern spoil. At the external ground level of the now squared kiln structure are the firing chambers into which coal would have been fed: there are two firing chambers in each face of the kiln, 1.3m wide by 1.5m high on the exterior face. 5.5m above the ground surface is the upper level of the kiln which has the top of the firing bowl which internally is c. 9m deep and circular in plan form at the top. Limestone was fed into the kiln at this top level and the only way it could have been raised there was by crane: iron fixing bolts support this contention.

A long flue leads from the kiln, with the actual connection now lost, and runs broadly westwards for c. 70m. It is stone lined and capped throughout, and measures 0.8m wide by 1.4m high internally. The flue leads to a square chimney standing 4.5m high though it seems to have been higher when in use.

It is considered to be of national importance by Historic England. Early mapping shows the site to have been quarried for limestone to feed small field kilns in the locality and possibly for roadstone and mapping evidence suggests the present kiln post dates the late 1850s, but its precise date cannot be fixed. Nothing is known of who operated it ro where its markets were. 1909 OS mapping marked it as 'Old' so it had clearly gone out of use before then.

Further Reading and References:-
Johnson, D. 2010. Limestone industries of he Yorkshire Dales. Stroud: Amberley, pp. 81-83, 194.
K.J. Cale. 1999. Toft Gate Limekiln. Archaeological survey. A report for the Moorhouses Residents Group, Bewerley, North Yorkshire. Unpublished report.
Falconer K, Guide to England\'s Industrial Heritage, 1980, p236
http://www.yorkshireguides.com/toft_gate_lime_kiln.html

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Key Words :- disused limestone quarry lime kiln

Viewing the Site :- Can be viewed from the public footpath or the car park

Address :- B6265, Greenhow, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, HG3 5BJ
Grid Ref :- SE 13013 64386
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.075240 , Long -1.802618
Local Authority :- Harrogate Borough Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Scheduled Ancient Monument SAM
Historic England List No - 1020890,
Site Condition :- Site conserved and open to the public
Site Dates :- unknown - pre 1909
Record Date :- 11 January 2018

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © David Johnson