Kiln

Site was inspected following the collapse of the soil under the weight of a heavy machine that was driving over a low hillock in the middle of a large undulating field. The appearance of a small hole (approx. diam. 1.5m) revealed a subterranean passage (approx. Wth 1m) the sides of which were built with limestone rubble bonded with lime mortar and roofed by large flat lintels, the passage appears to have been orientated on a N-S axis and its roof is stepped as it descends downwards into the hillock. The exposed section reveals that the passage was covered over by a cairn of rubble (D 1.2m) which was then turfed over forming a low cairn over the passage. This construction caused the appearance of the low hillock in the field which now appears to be an artificial construction. The collapsed rubble has fallen in on top of the passage making detailed examination of the structure impossible. However one horizontal timber was visible in the rubble infill. This timber may have been part of the roof structure of the passage. The presence of mortar in the side walls and timber in the roof structure along with its steep gradient down into the hillock and its covering of cairn material argue against its classification as a Man-made underground passage. Further inspection indicated that this collpase was the draw-hole and stone surround of a limekiln. The stepped lintelled roof was the underside of the roof of the draw-hole while the passage was the sidewalls of the kiln structure. On the first edition OS 6-inch map there is a limekiln indicated exactly where the hole has opened up. This kiln is also shown on the current ed. OS 6-inch map. The first ed. OS 6-inch map shows a roadway running past the opening which may have served the limekiln. After the limekiln ceased to function the structure was covered over so that the kiln pot was filled in with field rubble and ashy sand material. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien. Date of upload: 23 May 2011