Property: Consall Limekilns
Grade: II
Reason: Derelict and overgrown
Consall Limekilns, built in 1810 in the Churnet Valley adjacent to the Cauldon Canal. By 2,000 they were badly overgrown, suffering from severe tree-root damage, and had unstable furnace linings which posed a risk to both the structure and to the general public who had access from nearby footpaths
The initial survey was undertaken by the RSPB and restoration was coordinated by the Leek and Moorlands Historic Buildings Trust in 2002. Funding from the Local Heritage Initiative allowed the preservation of one of the four kilns for display purposes. Money from the Single Regeneration Budget and the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council was used to consolidate the rest of the structure.
Local firms gave generously to provide help in kind. Tarmac gave stone to fill the kilns that could not be fully displayed; JCB provided mechanical equipment to raise the stone to the top of the kilns; Seven Trent Water Authority providing the necessary supplies of water, and the children of St Leonard’s School, Ipstones provided community involvement.
As a result: the building is structurally sound and the public can view it in safety. However: the grant conditions require on-going maintenance, which poses long-term problems for the RSPB as chemical weed-killers are inappropriate in a nature reserve and so close to a canal.
