Lime Kilns at Newport Pembrokeshire

Production of quicklime for building and later agriculture

There are two kilns remaining at Newport. One is situated on the south bank of the River Nevern at The Parrog and the other along the north bank near to the Iron Bridge.

Limestone would have been brought in by boat and heated in these kilns to produce the lime mortars that Newport's stone built houses would have been constructed with, they would also have been lime washed (a quicklime and water mix) on a regular basis to protect them from the elements.

A temperature of some 900-1000°C would have been required in the kilns to create the reaction that turns the limestone into quicklime. The lime kilns would have been loaded with intermittent layers of coal and limestone and from start to finish a time scale of some seven days would have been required to produce a batch of quicklime.

Link to Old Maps of Newport

Both the kilns at Newport are now inoperable and have been out of use for some time, probably the result of the expansion of rail networks across the country.

The Kiln at The Parrog is the largest of the two at Newport and would have supplied the town with its lime mortars, whilst the kiln on the Nevern side of the estuary could well have had its roots in supplying the farming communities with lime for their fields and lime mortar for their buildings.

Accommodation near the Lime Kilns:

Directions:

Parrog lime kiln can be found by following the sign from the main A487 that runs through the centre of Newport.
To visit the Kiln on the north side of the Nevern River, head east along the main A487 through Newport and take a left - sign posted Feidr Pen-Y-Bont, continue down and over the bridge and take the next left (footpath) towards Traeth Mawr (Big Beach), follow this for some quarter mile and you will be at the kiln.
Both kilns are on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.

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