Monument record 2946/1/0 - Astbury Limeworks

<1> Kirkham, L, 2004, Astbury Hydraulic Lime Works, Newbold, Cheshire (Article in Journal). SCH7737.

There is a paucity of documentary evidence about the mine and no plans or geological survey are known to exist. The land and mineral rights of the land were (until the twentieth century) under the ownership of two estates: the Egertons (Dukes of Bridgewater) and the land owning family of Shakerley Akers.

Surface working of the limestone could conceivably go back to medieval times. Burdett’s 1777 Map of Cheshire (see 4) shows a lime works already established and there are claims of lime working taking place c.1630.

The first phase of working at the north east comprises a quarried area which is now mostly backfilled. When surface working was exhausted, the stone was mined from drawing shafts, and a shallow drainage adit was cut c.1750. An early steam engine house is depicted to the south west of an old shaft shown on the Ordnance Survey 25 inch map of 1873 (see 6), however, its place in the overall development of the works is unclear.

It’s likely that he works lay idle for some years due to the significant investment required to continue limestone extraction. In 1805 the Gilberts, as agents for the Edgertons, took over the Newbold Astbury Limeworks in partnership with the Williamsons. Three years after the purchase, the limekilns were described as supplying the south east of Cheshire with lime. By 1808 Gilbert and Williamson offered the lease to personas able to superintend the works, presumably having completed the large open cut. The period 1808 to the 1870s are likely to have been the most profitable phase. The Ordnance Survey 25 inch map of 1873 shows two shafts in the quarry bottom, crown holes near the water’s edge of the western side indicate shallow mining below the quarry floor. The works are described as disused.

The final phase of working involved a large financial investment. The work’s above ground infrastructure was rebuilt below Baytree Farm adjacent to the brick and tile works; a substantial business producing bricks and land drain pipes from the glacial clays. A 560 yard adit (or pony level) was driven from the new processing site to the new workings under the quarry (now the lake), with three brick lined vertical shafts that drop on to the level. No.1 shaft was an airshaft and has now collapsed. No.2 shaft may have been driven at a later date to accommodate a pumping mechanism (this shaft is the only unblocked access to the adit). No.3 shaft may have operated as a pumping sump. It is also blocked. The limekilns at Limekiln Farm were demolished and four new ones were constructed: two at the exit of the adit and two at the railway goods yard (CHER 2946/1/2). The latter produced white lime for plaster. In addition, rails were laid throughout the works and workings and new stables and a substantial gunpowder magazine were built. By 1910 the works were unprofitable and closed a few years later.

<2> Kitching, D, Various, Limekilns, Newbold Astbury (Web Site). SCH7738.

The Astbury limeworks has a very long history for such a small set of quarries. This must largely have been because it was based on the only limestone outcrop in the whole of Cheshire. Those involved with the business included the younger John Gilbert and Hugh Henshall Williamson and in the early twentieth century it was operated by the Astbury Hydraulic Lime & Stone Company Limited. In the nineteenth century there were two banks of kilns of which only the later ones, at Astbury Sidings adjacent to the North Staffordshire Railway, have survived. The others were demolished by Arthur Potts of Baytree Farm in the 1960's. The remaining structures at Astbury comprise a rare survival of the kilns, offices, warehouse and weighbridge of a small rural limeworks of the nineteenth century. Operations continued into the twentieth century even though the reserves of limestone were almost exhausted. In later years the stone was won by mining and extracted through an adit close to Baytree Farm.

<3> Unknown, Various, Mow Cop Interactive, Astbury Limeworks (Web Site). SCH7739.

Lime has been quarried out of this area for at least 300 years and there is a document containing quarry accounts going back to 1708. More efficient methods of quarrying were introduced over the years, including blasting, and a seventeenth century powder hut survives on the site (CHER 2946/1/1). By 1828 the quarry was 300 ft deep with over a mile of networked tunnels beneath the surface. The lime kilns were originally located around the workings, but new larger kilns were built in the vicinity of Baytree Farm and the exit to the new tunnel and its associated rails.

As well as mortar and lime for farms, lime was also used as a flux for the steel smelting process. During the mid 1800’s, the lime was transported by a loop line to Robert Heaths steel works in Biddulph. Falls coal pit on the Staffordshire side of the hill (Congleton Edge) provided the slack that would keep the limekilns burning. A small network horse drawn railway transported the coal and passed over the embankment of the old Stonetrough to Congleton line. This coal line came through a cutting from the Gillow Heath side of Biddulph and was then tipped into waiting trucks, hence the high embankment. These trucks then followed a rail track down to the lime works.

In the 1920’s the lime works were closed down. The quarry was initially kept well drained, but eventually the overflow got blocked and the quarry has since filled with water.

<4> Burdett, P. P., 1777, A Survey of the County Palatine of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH113.

Burdett's map labels and depicts lime kilns adjacent to Roe Park. This broadly correlates with the location of this site.

<5> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 289/2 c.1838 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

The tithe map only shows a couple of structures in the area to the north west of Lime Kiln Farm. The accompanying award records the plot's name as 'limeworks, house, building and land'.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ8559, 1873-1891 & SJ8659, 1875-1891 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

This map depicts a large quarry to the immediate north east, east and south east of Lime Kiln Farm. The map depicts a number of buildings and structures including four kilns. There are also two shafts labelled 'old'. The Lime Works is labelled as disused and there are two small pools located in the base of the quarry. The bickfields to the east of Baytree Farm are also depicted.

<7> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ8559, 1898-1899 & SJ8659, 1898-1899 (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

The area adjacent to Limekiln Farm is still labelled as disused. A few building remain and there are two air shafts in the base of the deeper working. The new surface complex and the entrance to the adit north of Baytree Farm are depicted, as are the new rails and kilns adjacent to the railway (CHER 2946/1/2), and labelled Lime Works. There is also a brick field and sand pit. There are two shafts, labelled old, between the two surface operations.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ8559, 1909 & SJ8659, 1909 (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

A large sand pit, linked by rails to the sidings, is depicted to the west of Baytree Farm. The old brickfield to the north east is labelled disused. The complex of buildings at the railway sidings is labelled Astbury Lime Works, whereas the complex surrounding the entrance to the adit is just labelled Lime Works. There are three shafts depicted between the Limekiln Farm and Baytree Farm operations (two of which were shown on the previous edition), all are labelled Old Air Shaft.

<9> Edgerton Estate, 1823, Lease of the Lime Works for 14 years, CRO: DEO 172 (Unpublished Document). SCH7745.

The 1823 lease makes reference to engines, machines and 'whinseys'. It also refers to 'mines and works' and 'mines and pits'.

<10> Edgerton Estate, 1911, Report on the Lime Works by AM Henshaw, Engineer, CRO: DEO 182 (Unpublished Document). SCH7746.

This document refers to “...railway sidings, tramways, wharves, brick kilns, four cottages, stables and other erections..” and engines. It also mentions that the company had the right to extract coal and limestone at this location, but not ganister clay.

Includes a report on how limestone had been extracted to date: “The stone has been worked from the surface downwards to the present level for many generations, in descending stages, first by headings and afterwards by extraction of pillars more or less until subsidence brought down the overlying strata. In this way the stone has been completely honeycombed down to the tunnel level.”

The loss being incurred on the extraction of limestone and production of clay stood at £230, but was being offset by the profit being made on sand and bricks (£150). The capacity for limestone extraction was small and decreasing due to the small area available (the works, under the terms of the lease, were unable to expand either north or south) and the naturally difficult conditions. The report states that the rents and royalties set in the lease were based on the production of 3500 tons and sand and 11,000 tons of lime, but with the exhaustion of the most economically worked stone and sand, such outputs were unobtainable (in c.1910 2366 tons of lime were produced). By 1911 the majority of the limestone extracted is from reworking the old workings. The costs for lime burning were also high, due to the type of kiln used. The engineer determined that it was uneconomic to extract deeper limestone deposits, given the required investment in infrastructure and the lateral constraints on the site.

<11> Hawley, J, 1713, A Survey of Newbold Astbury & Church Astbury by Joseph Hawley, CRO: DEO 211/1 (Unpublished Document). SCH7747.

A written survey of 1713 for the township makes a number of references to the lime works, such as: “A little house & garden near ye limekill”. Notably the resident of this house is later listed as being a stone cutter. Comparison of the field names for those holdings with limekiln references and those recorded on the tithe award (see 5), shows a correlation between these entries and a proximity to Limekiln Farm.

<12> William, W, 1735, A Map of Astbury & Newbol-Astbury Manors for Philip Edgerton, CRO DEO 1/11 (Maps and Plans). SCH7748.

A 1735 map of the manors of Astbury and Newbold Astbury, depicts Limekiln Farm and Baytree Farm. A long plot, shown to the immediate north of Limekiln Farm, has been subsequently labelled in pencil as ‘Lime Works’.

<13> Tabinor R & Johnson R, 2013, Astbury Hydraulic Lime Company, Accessed 19/10/2017 (Projected and Video Material). SCH8337.

<14> Bryant, A., 1831, Map of the County Palatine of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH2114.

Depicts two buildings adjacent to the lane from Lime Kiln Farm to the Springfield Cottage/Corda Well lane. Labelled as Newport Limeworks.

<15> Greenwood, C. & Greenwood J., 1819, Map of the County Palatine of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH2115.

Depicts an enclosure or plot containing two buildings or structures (one circular). Labelled Limekilns.