MSO8057 - Post-medieval lime kiln at Bossington Beach (Building)

SS 89165 48352. The fragmentary remains of a lime kiln on the coast at Bossington Beach near Porlock. This kiln has been built into the top of the north side of a steep shingle bank skirting the beach. The remains consist of a rectangular portion of its south side, 7.7 metres long northeast to southwest by 2.5 metres overall. Its wall, 0.7 metres thick, is constructed of roughly coursed beach pebbles and still stands to a maximum height of 2.6 metres. The interior is under turf covered rubble. In the north side are the remains of the base of the base of the combustion chamber, or pot, visible as 3 to 5 courses of a sloping wall constructed of curved rectangular blocks, 0.7 metres long and 1 metres high. The remainder of the kiln has collapsed down the steep slope and is no longer evident. The remains appear to have been renovated at some time. These are the remains of the second (from the west) of four (See MSO8056, MSO8058 and MSO8059) kilns shown on an 1809 Bossington Estate map [1]. They are depicted as unannotated open circles but appear in the apportionment as 'Lime Kiln'. The kiln is also shown on both the 1842 Luccombe [2] and 1841 Porlock Tithe Maps [3] as an unannotated rectangular building. It is not shown on the 1889 Ordnance Survey map [4], so presumably it must have gone out of use by then. Published Survey [5] correct. [6] SS 8916 4835. A post-medieval lime kiln, visible as a ruinous structure, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1941 and 1999. Located on the top of the shingle of Bossington Beach, the northeast to southwest aligned rectangular remains of this stone built structure are about 7 metres long and 3.2 metres wide. The northeast wall stands higher than the other remaining walls. The structure was still visible in 1999. [7-9] The kiln is depicted on the Holnicote estate map of 1876, indicating that it probably passed out of use between 1876 and 1889. [10] The lime kiln was photographed by the RCHME in 1996. [11] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [12] The fragmentary remains of one of three kilns to the east of a later kiln on Bossington Beach. It may have been an estate operated flare kiln. [13]