Meal Bank, Ingleton

Description

Meal Bank, Ingleton MYD23909 (c) YDNPA, 2023

Limestone had no doubt been quarried on a small scale at Meal Bank for centuries and commercial lime burning was taking place there in the early part of the 19th century. By the mid-19th century lime burning ranked among Ingleton’s main sources of employment due in no small part to the work of two ambitious men from Austwick. John Clark and Michael Wilson, both experienced lime burners took on the lease of the old kilns and quarry at Meal Bank in Ingleton in 1864. Four years after this they purchased a licence to build a revolutionary design of horizontal kiln. The Hoffmann continuous kiln was patented in 1858 by its German inventor Friedrich Hoffmann. Clark and Wilson constructed the first of its type in the north of England. Without doubt the Hoffmann kiln was the most successful lime kiln of the 19th century and proved to be extremely fuel efficient and capable of producing lime of exceptional quality.

The Meal Bank site was renamed the Ingleborough Patent Lime Works and Clark and Wilson’s company went from strength to strength. The new kiln produced between 40 and 60 tons of high grade lime per day and the product was sold all over the north of England particularly to the chemical industry. The company weathered ups and downs and was still profitable in the early years of the 20th century. However, the market crashed in 1908 and the kiln and quarry were shut down a year later. The site was stripped during the First World War and only the ruins of the Hoffmann kiln remain.

Source:

Johnson, David (2002) Limestone Industries of the Yorkshire Dales. Stroud: Tempus