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Lime kilns (5no. associated with knocknadona quarry) are a group of five industrial structures located near Lisburn in County Antrim. The site also includes a chimney stack belonging to the quarry complex. These kilns represent the nineteenth-century exploitation of limestone resources in the area, extracting raw material from the underlying bedrock of Palaeogene mafic lavas and tuffs. The conversion of limestone to lime was essential for building mortar, agricultural soil amendment, and various industrial processes that sustained the region's development during this period.
The kilns operated in conjunction with Knocknadona Quarry, which would have supplied the stone worked at the site. The clustering of five kilns suggests substantial production capacity, indicating this was a significant local enterprise rather than a small-scale operation. The survival of the associated chimney stack demonstrates the scale of the infrastructure required to service the lime-burning process, including the management of fuel and heat.
These structures are protected by the Historic Environment Division as an important record of industrial heritage. The physical remains at the site preserve evidence of lime production methods and the quarrying practices that characterised rural and semi-rural industrial activity in nineteenth-century Ulster. Such complexes were vital to the material culture of construction and agriculture across Northern Ireland.
Lime kilns (5no. associated with knocknadona quarry is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 16608. View the official record →
Lime kilns (5no. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 16608.
Lime kilns (5no. associated with knocknadona quarry is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 16608.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Chimney (associated with knocknadona quarry) (0.1 km), Brookhill house demesne. motte & ?bailey (1.9 km), Raf long kesh. bellman hangars, airfield & wwii defensive features including pillbox and blast shelters, [dhp.no.71] (4.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Lime kilns (5no. associated with knocknadona quarry's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Lime kilns (5no. associated with knocknadona quarry stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.