Description and History of Site:-
There is a string of lime kilns - most either lost or reduced to earthworks - along both sides of the becks. Each one converted limestone cobbles into lime, the cobbles having been sourced from within the beck. The underlying geology is sandstone/gritstone but the cobbles have been brought downstream from streams running off the Pennine moors.

There are 14 known kiln sites of which two still stand - Cowling kiln # 7 (SD 9616 4304) and Cowling kiln #19 (SD 9764 4413). The kiln at SD 97635 44105 is listed grade II. Little is known in detail but river stonary of this nature was very common where limestone did not outcrop, from at least the 16th century until the coming of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. Limeburners here and elsewhere leased lengths of river/stream bed with the right to extract stone and burn it into lime.

Further Reading and References:-
Johnson, D. 2010 'hushes, delfs and river stonary: alternative methods of obtaining lime in the gritstone Pennines' Landscape History 31, pp. 37-52.
http://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1391229

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Key Words :- river stonary limestone cobbles

Viewing the Site :- parts are visible on public footpaths

Address :- Ickornshaw, Cowling, Keighley, North Yorkshire, BD22
Grid Ref :- SD 9579 4299
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.883083 , Long -2.065530
Local Authority :- Craven District Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site derelict - some buildings remaining
Site Dates :- unknown - unknown
Record Date :- 24 January 2018

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