LIMESTONE QUARRYING
IN LLANDYBIE
A BRIEF HISTORY1 – Introduction – Industry in Llandybie
So many industries, and therefore jobs, have disappeared from Ammanford in the last generation, that even those of us who can remember the mines and factories of the Amman valley often wonder if we actually imagined those mornings when our fathers and neighbours went to work at any one of the area's seemingly numberless collieries and factories.
The coal mines started being closed even as a post-war Labour government was nationaliseing them for 'the nation' in 1947. Mine owners were fully compensated for pits which had been so completely exhausted during the war that they had to be shut down for good immediately after 'the nation' acquired them. Owners who had made considerable profits during the war, but hadn't bothered investing even some of this in the mines' futures, were therefore doubly rewarded when compensation paid for by taxpayers followed afterwards. And the owners of the mines that were kept open by the newly created National Coal Board often received a third bonanza by being kept on as managers of their former collieries.
The relentless pit closure programme throughout the 1950s and 60s was softened a little when some new mines were developed in the area in the 1960s and 1970s: at Abernant in the Swansea Valley, Cynheidre in the Gwendraeth valley, and Betws New Mine in the Amman valley. But this proved to be a false dawn, and the defeat of the 1984/85 miners' strike by Margaret Thatcher's anti-union government unleashed a pit closure programme that saw the UK's 170 coal mines of 1984 reduced to just eight by 2006. Betws, the last mine in the Amman valley, closed in June 2003.
In the post-war years, the largest single place of employment in the Ammanford area was the Pullman's Springfilled Company Ltd., who employed about 1,100 people at one point. The National Coal Board was the largest employer overall, but no single mine employed more than 800 people and most had considerably fewer. Pullman's Springfilled Company Ltd had been built in 1945 on a government-sponsored site that had been created in 1943 for war industries. The London-based company took over more land in 1947 and grew steadily throughout the 1950s until increasing competition for its spring-filled mattresses saw its market share decline throughout the 1960s, and it ceased trading in 1967. A new company, Delanair Ltd., manufacturing car heating units, took over the factory premises in 1969 only to bought up by French company Valeo Climate Control Ltd, who transferred to a new factory in Gorseinon, near Swansea, in 1992. Valeo themselves went into receivership in 2002.
Another industry that once had economic importance was limestone quarrying, especially in the Llandybie area just two miles north of Ammanford. For about a century, from the 1840s to the 1950s, Llandybie enjoyed both mining and quarrying in an area otherwise dominated by agriculture. A local mineral railway line, branching off the main Ammanford to Llandeilo passenger line at Tirydail, once carried Llandybie's coal and limestone to markets throughout south and west Wales. Even before the arrival of the railways, horse and carts carried Llandybie's lime to farms in the region, far and wide. Like mining, not a single quarry is left working in Llandybie any more and quarry faces still visible from the road are now silent except for the wind whistling through their vacant spaces. Not everyone would regret this, however, and the return of peregrines and other birds make some of these abandoned quarries welcome refuges for the nature lover, and they offer a thoroughly enjoyable walk for those of us who have spotted that the car isn't the sole means of transport available to homo sapiens.
What follows are two brief histories of quarrying in Llandybie; first up to 1939 and then from 1940 to 1990. It should be noted that both these brief histories were written in the present tense, which means they're no longer up to date. The Lime Firms Company sold their undertaking to MacAlpine Ltd in 1975, who sold it on to Tarmac Ltd., and quarrying ceased comletely in 2002. Finally, the CADW reports for the major quarries whose remains can still be found complete this brief history. (CADW is the organisation responsible for conserving and preserving the built heritage of Wales, and is the Welsh counterpart to English Heritage. 'Cadw' means 'to keep'.)
2 – Limestone Quarrying to 1939
There is a thick, rich seam of limestone running above Llandybie from the direction of Mynydd Mawr to the Black Mountain. Craig Derwyddon and Craig-y-Ddinas are formed of limestone. This run of limestone was known to George Owen at the beginning of the 17th century: "This vayne contynving … runneth estward and is all lymestone which passeth estward to llandebea Castell Kyrygkynen and all along the topp of the black Mountaines …" Edward Lhyud noticed at the end of the century that there was an ample supply of limestone in Llandybie, and he also noticed the 'fossils' in the limestone, such as sea shells. Nicholas Carlisle said of the parish in 1811: "It abounds with … Lime; of which great quantities are annually carried off."
Without doubt this lime was worked and burnt in an earlier period, as far back as the 12th century. There are several indications of this in the large castles that were built within a few miles of the parish, such as Dryslwyn, Dinefwr, and Carreg Cennen – all three in the 12th and 13th century. The lime was not only a material for mortar, but as nourishment for the land as well. This was mentioned by Thomas Rees in 1815: "Lime is the prevalent manure, which is fetched in some cases from a considerable distance … This valuable article is furnished in the largest quantities by the quarries at the western extremity of the Black Mountains, in the parishes of' Llandeilo Fawr and Llandybie." Lime was also used to whitewash the churches, farms, and cowsheds, etc. There is more then one entry in the accounts of' the wardens in the parish, 1734-5, of the practice of whitewashing the interior of the church: "Lime and whiteliming of Church. 9s:6d", "For two loads of lime paid in the Bishop's Court. 3s." In the warden's report before the Bishop's Court in 1751 it states, "we present that our Church wants to be 'White Limed." The lime was quite cheap for all these purposes, and Llandybie soon became prominent as the centre of the lime trade.
At the beginning, the lime was made this way; the stones were cast on an open fire, and a pile of stones built around them; the few unburnt stones were easily removed from the hot lime. At a later period, kilns were built of stone; the kiln was an advantage, because, as well as retaining the heat of the fire, there was less waste. In 1930, while digging in Pentregwenlais quarry, they came across an example of the old method of burning, and it was wood-ash under the lime.
Everything was to hand at Llandybie, limestone, firewood, suitable stone to build kilns, and when they came across coal in the parish, the trade went ahead unhesitatingly. There are several of the old type kilns in places where the limestone branches to the surface. These can be seen to the West on the border of the parish between Pentregwenlais and Allt-y-garn, and around Castell-y-garreg. There is an old quarry and kiln near Bryn-yr-odyn, and another one near Llety-mawr. There are many old kilns in the direction of Llanlluan, two of them between Trawsdre-isaf and Dyllgoed-ganol, and several others near Blaen-y-pant and Llyn-y-fran. Some fortunate farmers were able to burn lime on their own land; in Llwyn-yr-ynn between Pentregwenlais and Gorslas, lime was burnt on the land of the farm as late as 1910. At the beginning the success of' the trade was dependent on a convenient way of carrying the lime to all the surrounding country. Originally the lime was carried in paniers on the backs of horses and mules, but eventually there came better highways, and it could then be carried in carts. The Cilyrychen and Pistyll kilns were quite convenient for the new highway, and this was no small gain to the trade. The railways came before the end of the 19th century, and this was a great acquisition to the trade. At the beginning of the century Llandybie kilns were not marked on the ordnance survey maps, but by the end of the century, the Llandybie kilns gained supremacy over the kilns at Mynydd Mawr. Lime was also used to build the highways, in fact Glan-dwr quarry (near Penpound) worked exclusively to produce road-stone.
An interesting sight during the middle of the last century [ie the 19th] was to see between 50 and 100 carts awaiting their turn at Cilyrychen or Pistyll works, each one waiting for a load. Many farmers came from as far as Cardiganshire and Pembroke to get lime from Llandybie. They would travel day and night to save on tolls and time, and would arrive at the works before the break of dawn, and many a tale has been told of the exploits of' ones who would attempt to load before anyone else. Before the general use of money (and even after) there was trading by exchange, for example, exchanging coal for lime. We shall hear of these men when studying the economic circumstances of the parish during the 19th century, because the matter of tolls was a burning question in Carmarthenshire in the middle of the last century.
In the account books of John Lewis (1822-29) there are several references to lime and limeworkers: "1828: David Thomas, Limer, Sept. 23. 2 loads of Ashes from his Limekilns. 1 load Lime." The price of coal and lime in 1823 was 3d a hundred-weight, but the price of coal rose shortly afterwards The price of lime by 1878 was 5s a ton.
Local men were behind the lime trade, but around the middle of the century, a Mr Richard Kyrke Penson came to the district regarding the building of the new Dynevor Mansion, and being a shrewd man, he saw the possibilities of the lime trade, and also realized that Craig y Ddinas was a natural treasure house of the commodity. Shortly after 1850, he opened new kilns in Cilyrychen, and soon after he started there, the Pant-y-llun quarry, which had been started earlier by two local men, closed down. About the same time, work began at the Pistyll quarry by Messrs Strick and Richards; this company using the lime at their iron works in Brynamman. There were two quarries here, the Upper being the older and unable to join with the Lower because the ancient Pistyll farmhouse was in the way.
Cilyrychen lime kilns, bulit by Richard Kyrke Penson in 1858, and still visible today from the main Llandybie to Llandeilo road. At the end of the century, lime from Llandybie was being exported to Africa for the purpose of purifying sugar, but the trade was lost during the Great War. Limestone from Llandybie was the material used in many buildings, including the harbour at Swansea.
There were at one time several other small quarries near Ddinas, Pant-y-Llun, and Pistyll, but with the development of the two large quarries already mentioned, these small quarries eventually disappeared. The Cincoed Works and Garn-fach quarry finished in 1901, and the Pistyll works closed in the same year. Another quarry was opened near Pentregwenlais, and to work this and its branches efficiently they opened a new railway between Pentregwenlais and Pont-lash. There is another quarry in Cincoed near Llandyfan working Silica stone.
It is interesting to remember that there was a camp for German prisoners in Cilyrychen during the war [ie Word War 1] where hundreds of young men from Germany spent their time in the quarry. Many inhabitants of the parish still earn their living in the quarry and kilns, and the trade seems likely to continue, because special attention is given these days to liming the land, and as long as houses are built, there will also be a demand for lime.
[From: Hanes Plwyf Llandybie (History of the Parish of Llandybie), by Gomer Roberts, Chapter 8 – Trade and Industry; (2) Quarries and Lime Kilns, etc. First published in Welsh in 1939. This translation by Ivor Griffiths, 1986. (Pages 86-87)]
3 – Limestone Quarrying 1940-1990
The history of quarrying in the Llandybie area probably dates from the twelfth or thirteenth centuries when many of the castles and churches in the area were constructed using local limestone for building and burnt lime for mortar. By the nineteenth century there were many small quarries operating in the limestone outcrop surrounding Llandybie, supplying stone for building purposes and lime for agricultural use. The largest of these was Cilyrychen Quarry, founded by Messrs. Penson & Southern in 1857, to provide stone for the laying of the Central Wales Railway, and the Llandybie Lime Works (previously the Llandybie Welsh Stone Company) located at Glangwenlais, which was set up by two coal-owners from the Swansea area to provide lime and stone for the growing industries of the Swansea area and for export.
The present structure of the industry in the parish dates from 1906 when these two financially constrained and competing companies were amalgamated to form Lime Firms Limited.
Lime Firms Limited remained in the ownership of the family and acquaintances of the original founders, most of whom lived in the Swansea and East Carmarthenshire areas, until 1975, when it was purchased by the North Wales based construction group Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son Limited, to supply aggregates for the extension of the M4 motorway west of Swansea. In 1985 the company's name was changed to Alfred McAlpine Quarries Limited and again in 1988 to Alfred McAlpine Quarry Products Limited.
As a result of this amalgamation Lime Firms Limited lost its autonomy, becoming part of a wider group of companies which now includes two other quarries in the area – Torcoedfawr near Pontyberem and a gritstone quarry at Llansawel. Although these are administered on a day-to-day basis from Llandybie, the ultimate policy control over investment rests with McAlpine's Limited in North Wales.
Changes 1940-1990
In addition to changes in ownership and control, the last 50 years have seen significant changes in the location of production at Llandybie. Since 1975 work at Glangwenlais (or Welsh) Quarry has been temporarily discontinued and development concentrated at the Cilyrychen site. There have also been significant changes in products, techniques of production, markets and in the workforce employed.The Products
In 1940 Lime Firms Limited was one of the main producers of lime in Wales. Lime was transported to all parts of Mid and South Wales for Agricultural use and to most of the South Wales steel works. On occasions, lime was sent to steel works in Paisley in Scotland and to Stratford-on-Avon for sewerage disposal. In 1940 the agricultural demand for lime had increased markedly following the introduction of the Lime Subsidy Scheme in 1937 whereby farmers purchased lime at 40% of the delivered price, the producer recouping the remaining 60% from the Government.Crushed stone and tarmacadam of various sizes were also produced and sold to the area's local authorities for road making and maintenance as well as to building contractors. Crushed stone was also sold as ballast for railways. From 1940 large amounts of material, particularly tarmacadam, were required for defence contracts such as the construction of airfields, road and coastal defences.
There has in fact been very little change in the products produced by the company since 1940. The major change is that lime-burning was discontinued in 1973. This was largely due to the closure of several local steel and chemical plants, for example, Briton Ferry Steel Works, Llanelli Steel Company and the National Smelting Corporation, and changes in steel-making techniques which reduced the demand for lime, as well as the difficulty in producing the high quality lime now required in steel-making with relatively inefficient nineteenth century kilns.
Crushed stone for road construction, ready-mixed concrete and for local block-making industries as well as bituminous macadam and finely milled stone (ground limestone) are still produced at Llandybie. Since 1975, the company has let a small part of the Cilyrychen Works for a ready-mix concrete plant operated by Ready-Mix Concrete staff – which obtains limestone aggregates directly from the quarry.
Markets
Since the 1940s the market area served by the company has contracted. This is because of the ending of the emergency war-time building programme and the decline in sales of lime shipment previously sent to steel works as far as Ebbw Vale in Gwent or dispatched to the agricultural communities in the North of Ceredigion and Powys. The current market for aggregates and bituminous macadam served by the company is largely confined to Dyfed, West Glamorgan and the Southern part of Powys, with the margins determined by competition from neighbouring quarries on the basis of relative production and transport costs.Although in 1940 both the Glamorgan and Cilyrychen Quarries were connected to the Central Wales Railway, most of the material produced was dispatched by road. This was because material delivered by road invariably arrived on the same day, while rail deliveries took much longer to reach their destination. Rail was primarily used for the transportation of coal to the quarries for lime-burning, much of which came along the railway line from Pencae Colliery.
Changes in Production Techniques
The changes in production techniques over the last 50 years have resulted in a considerable degree of mechanisation. In pre-war years limestone was blasted from the face and broken manually by sledge-hammers. The larger stones were broken by a method known as 'popping' when a small amount of explosives was used. The stone was loaded by hand into trains which were pulled by a narrow gauge locomotive for transportation to the primary crusher. A good average output per man was considered to be around 12 tons per 10-hour day. After the Second World War, the company introduced mechanised production and, where formerly 30/36 men were required at Cilyrychen and 20/30 at Glangwenlais, one mechanical excavator was able to produce the equivalent output in an 8-hour day.Following mechanisation, the blasted stone was broken by a dropball excavator and loaded mechanically into dump trucks for transport to the primary crushers, where it was broken to 8" downwards. At Cilyrychen the stone came from the primary crusher on to a conveyor belt to the separator where it was graded into two sizes and then conveyed by skips hauled by a small diesel loco, the larger stones going to the crushers and the small size to the secondary crushers for further processing.
The process today is essentially the same, although the network of narrow gauge railway lines has been replaced by motorised dump-trucks and the capacity of the crushers and production plants has been considerably increased.
The Workers
In 1940 around 150 workers were employed, the numbers varying with the seasonal demand for agricultural and building materials, and tended to be greatest in May.With increasing mechanisation there has been a steady decline in the numbers employed in the quarries. By 1958 the number employed in both quarries was 95 and, by 1962, 72. By 1990 the number employed has fallen to 40 all of whom are working at Cilyrychen. The company also employs a small number of sub-contractors for drilling and maintenance.
In 1940, the majority of the workers employed (80%) lived within two miles of the quarries and only 10% travelled over five miles. By 1990, greater access to private transport has increased the commuting distance and now 42% live over five miles from Llandybie.
Inflation and rising expectations throughout the last 50 years have inevitably led to changes in the wages paid. In 1939 the basic rate for unskilled workers was 1/1d per hour with higher rates paid according to skill – semiskilled workers being paid 1/4d and skilled craftsmen 1/10d per hour. At this time the average weekly wage of a quarry worker was £2.10.0d for a 45-hour week. Over the 50 years the standard working week has been reduced gradually to 40 hours with compensating increases in hourly rates.
Conclusion
Quarrying is a local traditional industry which services a market need, provides jobs and pumps money into the economy. However, there is a price to be paid for such operations – in terms of visual intrusion, traffic generation, noise and dust emission. The main difference between the operations in the 1940s and the 1990s is the increased concern of these environmental issues.[From: Lime Firms Limited, (Later known as Alfred McAlpine Quarry Products Limited), by Betty Thomas. Published by:
Llandybie Village Community Project, 1990, (pages 70 – 74)]
4 – CADW Report – Cilyrychen Limekilns
Authority: Carmarthenshire; Record No: 10916
Date Listed: 08/07/1966
Date Amended: 27/08/1999
Community: Llandybie
Locality: Cil-yr-ychen; Grid Ref: 261660 216750
Grade: II*
Name: Cil-yr-ychen Lime Kilns
Formerly Listed As: Cil-yr-ychen limekilns nos. 1 – 7.Location
Prominently sited 200m to the west of Llandeilo Road, about 1½ km snorth of Llandybie village.History
Cil-yr-ychen Limekilns, of which the first set was designed in 1857 by their owner, Richard Kyrke Penson, in a Moorish style of architecture. Penson (1816-86) was also Carmarthenshire County Surveyor and a noted church architect, and lived for a time nearby at Cefnceithin, and, from 1871, at his new house at the limeworks, Pant yr Odyn.The quarry was founded by Penson in 1857 on the basis of a 60 years lease with mineral rights of Dinas, part of the Cil-yr-ychen farm on the Dynefor estate, mainly with the aim of selling stone and lime to the Central Wales Railway. He was, however, an accomplished artist with strong views on industrial architecture, and exhibited the design for his initial set of lime-kilns at the Royal Academy in 1858; the painting ('Limekilns in Carmarthenshire') was still in the Quarry company's offices in the 1980s. The first kiln was lit in June 1857. The cost of construction, by the end of 1858, was nearly £3,500. By 1878 there were four kilns in two 'Moorish' groups plus one freestanding to the north. Later the latter was rebuilt and there were three in addition, bringing the total to eight.
After Penson's death the firm was continued by his widow in partnership with F G Southern. The firm continued to expand until competition with the neighbouring firm at Pentregwenlais led to overproduction; in 1906 the firms merged as Lime Firms Ltd. A three-arch group of two large kilns, of plain design in concrete, was later added at the north end of the group bringing the total to ten. The burning of lime at this site ceased in 1973.
Exterior
The oldest group is at the left, with battered font wall and a row of 6 large pointed-arch openings at ground level, forming an arcade. Above each arch is a pair of pointed-arched machicolations supporting a projecting brick parapet which is pierced by small quatrefoil openings in line and circle patterns. A crowning cornice has deep indentations in the manner of a corbel table. Set back to the right-hand is a complex part probably altered and architecturally incomplete, also in Moorish style with triple pointed-arched machiolations over the left kiln, a gap, then incomplete triple-arch machicolations over a second kiln, a blank bay with incomplete quadruple machicolations, and finally a third kiln with completed quadruple machicolations. None in this set has a crowning cornice. This probably is the limit of the kilns built by Penson.In line with the latter group and to the right-hand again is a strongly battered single-arch section of plain design containing three kilns, probably phase three, of the Penson and Southern period, and finally a tall phase four unit of three arches in concrete containing two kilns, probably mid C20, only decorated with a string course at the base of its parapet.
Penson's original kilns are a departure from the universal design of the period, in which access is gained to one or two points at the base of the kiln by means of tunnel-like working arches. Penson's kilns are arranged on a principle of all-round access, like industrial corn drying kilns; in the six-arched first set there are only two kilns,
but they are each dischargeable at three points. (The design is more radical than the industrial kilns at Penally near Tenby). Kilns nos. 3, 4 and 5, however, in the second set are conventional single access kilns. Kilns 6, 7 and 8 in the very battered structure are single access, but the last two in the concrete structure are dual access.Listed
Listed at II* as a set of kilns by R K Penson, architect; an experiment both in technical kiln design and in the cause of reforming industrial architecture; with later additions to the set showing the development of kiln design into the C20; in all a remarkabe large-scale limeworks.Reference
R W D Fenn, 'R K Penson, Architect, Water-colourist and Lime Burner' in Tarmac Papers I (1997) pp. 67-98;
I C Thomas, 'The development of a Victorian Enterprise, R K Penson and the Cilyrychen Lime Works' in Tarmac Papers I (1997) pp. 99-119;
Llandybie Village Community Project: Llandybie 1940-1990 (1990), pp.70-74;
Dyfed Archaeol. Trust SMR PRN 27792.
5 – CADW Report – Pentregwenlais Limekilns
Authority: Carmarthenshire; Record No: 11172
Date Listed: 09/12/1991
Date Amended: 27/08/1999
Community: Llandybie
Locality: Pentre Gwenlais; Grid Ref: 260810 216390
Grade: II
Name: Bank of Lime Kilns at Pentre Gwenlais Stone Quarry, Pentre Gwenlais RoadLocation
Built into a steep bank near SE end of Pentre Gwenlais Limestone Quarry which lies to N of Pentre-Gwenlais village, approximately 1km W of A483.History
Dated 1903, and contemporary with a major quarry development at the south east of Carmel Woods. This area already had a tradition of limeworks: Cil-yr-ychen Quarry, to the east, retains a substantial bank of limekilns from c1870.The design suggests that is was intended as a bank of 5 kilns – see positioning of date, lack of battering at the left end and springing for a further arch. An engraving of c1905 and the 2nd edition OS map surveyed in 1905 shows the structure as it is today with three kilns. Railways brought the limestone and coal in at the top and took the lime away at the bottom. The lines at top encircled each kiln. Many associated industrial buildings, including an engine shed, have disappeared from the area to the south and west of the kilns.
Pentre-Gwenlais and Cil-yr-ychen quarries merged in 1906 to form Lime Firms Ltd. The firm was purchased by Sir Alfred McAlpine and Son Ltd in 1975, after discontinuance of lime burning, and is now owned by Tarmac Plc.
Exterior
Vast masonry bank of limekilns strongly battered at front and right end, built in randomly coursed rubble with red brick semicircular arches to the working areas. Prominently dated 1903 in brick over the left-hand of the three arches. Within each working area is a pair of deeply recessed and camber-headed working-holes. Formerly there were hoppers to the front through which the lime was drawn straight down into railway waggons; the upper parts of the chutes remain in situ. This mechanised loading of the quicklime accounts for the immense height of the structure. Across the front of the working areas is a communicating walkway with square-headed tunnels and stone lintels through the masonry piers. The kilns were charged from the platform at the top which has remains of a stone parapet. Reinforcement to left end.Interior
Tall cylindrical kilns thickly lined with vitrified brick.
Listed
A well-preserved early C20 limekilns complex exhibiting unusual layout; design features associated with an exceptionally high level of mechanisation.Reference
Llandybie Village Community Project: Llandybie 1940-1990 (1990), pp.77-74;
OS 25" map 2nd ed. Sheet XLI-15 (1905);
Dyfed Archaeol. Trust SMR PRN 1028, 25537
6 – CADW Report – Pistyll Limekilns
Authority: Carmarthenshire; Record No: 22228
Date Listed: 27/08/1999
Community: Llandybie
Locality: Pistyll; Grid Ref: 262310 216770
Grade: II
Name: Pistyll LimekilnsLocation
1 km north of Llandybie village by the A483, reached by a farm track 200m south from the Afon Marlais bridge.Large quarry to east side. Extensive traces of industrial buildings to the immediate west, including a chimney [separately listed].
History
Four mid- to late-C19 limekilns beside a quarry on the site of Pistyll Isaf Farm. The kilns are shown on the 1876 map with a railway siding between them and a quarry tramway to the top. The exploitation of the lime at Pistyll commenced in the mid-C19. The kilns are said to have been worked by Messrs Strick and Richards, and to have provided lime for ironworks at Brynamman. There was, within living memory, an overhead conveyor to bring limestone to these kilns from the quarry at Llandyfan.Exterior
Unusual design with two facing pairs of limekilns, two to the north and two to the south, about 5m apart, with a full-width bridge connecting them at high level. Axe dressed limestone masonry with brick arches to the working areas. The whole structure is about 25m square and the bridge about 9m high.At low level the railway siding entered the space beneath the bridge on the west side. The kiln working areas and platforms are about 2m above the former railway siding level, down to which there are four narrow concrete staircases. At the west there are remains of a structure which stood at the platform edge each side and covered the siding, and extended out from the kilns structure.
The arches over the working areas are semicircular, about 3m span. Two of the draw-holes are arched, the others have lintels. The south-west kiln has an additional working arch on the west face of the structure with two corbelled-over drawholes and a brick pier between. Two additional blind, recessed in the south face overlooking the siding.
At top level a raised causeway (for the former tramway) crosses the structure north-south, linking it the limestone quarry nearby and also via an embankment to the silica quarry 400m to the south east. One kiln opening is visible, in collapsed condition, about 4m diameter.
Listed
A fine set of industrial limekilns of innovative layout.Reference
G Roberts, Hanes Plwyf Llandybie (1939) p. 212;
Dyfed Archaeological Trust SMR PRN 27294.
Authority: Carmarthenshire; Record No: 22229
Date Listed: 27/08/1999
Community: Llandybie
Locality: Pistyll; Grid Ref: 262290 216770
Grade: II
Name: Pistyll Limeworks chimneyLocation
To the west side of Pistyll LimeworksHistory
Late C19 or early C20 chimney probably intended for a works boilerhouse, as part of the Pistyll Limeworks. (Not marked on the 1876 Ordnance Survey map.)Exterior
A square brickwork chimney about 20m in height, tapering from about 2m at base to about 1½m at top. Cornice of about 4 corbelled courses near the top, with reducing courses above. Small arched apertures at base at east and west sides.Listed
Listed for group value with Pistyll Limekilns.Reference
Dyfed Archaeological Trust SMR PRN 27292.
