Massive - and abandoned

These massive walls at Froghall stand almost alone in the midst of a forested valley.  One wonders at first if they are the remains of a castle.

However, it's clear that they are built on to the side of a hillside - so castle they are not.

They actually are kilns - the doorways being where the raw material was loaded ready for firing. The raw material in this instance was limestone, quarried nearby, to make lime (for agriculture mostly).

It turns out this abandoned area - now a beauty spot - was a thriving industrial centre in the nineteenth century.   Ozymandias would have appreciated the irony.

Bringing up the past

Good ol’ Heritage Open Day. Today is the day that many historic buildings that are usually closed to the public are opened up - and we can all see them. (Sadly, not as many buildings as one would hope are in fact opened up, but there you are…)

One of the most unusual structures people got to see this year was the two-hundred year-old limekiln (which is on private land) at Sandon. The Staffordshire Historic Buildings Trust is gradually restoring it, having got it listed.

Chris Wakeling (second from left) of the SHBT was an enthusiastic guide.

Link: Heritage Open Day, Staffordshire / Sandon Limekiln