Sunnybrow Lime Kiln, Cotherstone Moor
High on Cotherstone Moor, west of the ruined farmstead at East Loups, the slight remains of a small lime kiln can still be found built into the slope beside the old moorland track.
Today the structure is easy to overlook, appearing as little more than a low mound of stone and earth. Yet features like this once played an important role in the farming history of Teesdale.
Historic Environment Records identify the site as Sunnybrow Lime Kiln, a small nineteenth century agricultural kiln used to burn limestone and produce lime for improving farmland soils.
What is a lime kiln
A lime kiln was a simple but important structure used to turn limestone into lime.
Limestone itself is a hard natural rock made largely of calcium carbonate. When heated to extremely high temperatures, usually around nine hundred to one thousand degrees Celsius, the stone breaks down chemically and becomes quicklime.
This process is known as lime burning.
Quicklime was widely used in the past for several purposes including improving acidic soils, making mortar for building, and producing early forms of cement.
Why lime was important for farmers
The upland soils of Teesdale are naturally acidic and often poor for growing crops or improving pasture. During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries farmers began spreading lime across their fields as part of the wider Agricultural Improvement movement.
Adding lime helped neutralise acidic soils and allowed grass to grow more strongly. This meant better grazing for livestock and improved hay crops.
Because transporting heavy stone was difficult in remote areas, small lime kilns were often built close to farms where limestone could be quarried locally and burned on site.
How a lime kiln worked
Most small rural lime kilns were built into a hillside, just like the example at Sunnybrow.
This design allowed workers to load the kiln from the top while removing the finished lime from an opening at the bottom.
The kiln would be filled with alternating layers of limestone and fuel, usually coal or sometimes peat. Once lit, the fire burned continuously for several days while the stone inside slowly heated and broke down into quicklime.
When the firing was complete the lime was drawn out from the lower opening and spread across nearby farmland.
The kiln at East Loups
The remains of the Sunnybrow Lime Kiln sit below the track running west from East Loups Farm on Cotherstone Moor. Archaeological records describe the site as the slight remains of a nineteenth century kiln built into the slope.
Nearby shallow quarry pits suggest that limestone was extracted locally to supply the kiln.
Although only low earthworks and scattered stone survive today, the site provides a small glimpse into the working life of the remote moorland farms that once stood here.
A landscape of farming history
The kiln forms part of a wider historic landscape around East Loups and West Loups where farmsteads, small quarries and ancient trackways still mark the moor.
Together these remains reveal how isolated upland farms once worked the land, improving their fields and maintaining livestock in what could be a harsh and challenging environment.
Today the kiln stands quietly on the moor, a reminder of the practical ingenuity that helped shape the farming landscape of Teesdale.
The Sunnybrow Lime Kiln Structure
The circular stone structure of the Sunnybrow Lime Kiln can still be seen built into the hillside on Cotherstone Moor. Although partly collapsed, the surviving stonework clearly shows the form of a traditional rural lime kiln.
The Lime Kiln in its Moorland Setting
The remains of Sunnybrow Lime Kiln sit quietly on the open moorland above Teesdale. Kilns like this were often built close to farms and small quarry pits, allowing farmers to burn limestone locally and improve the surrounding fields.
Stonework of the Lime Kiln
The kiln walls were carefully built using local stone, forming a circular chamber strong enough to withstand the intense heat generated during the lime burning process.
Inside the Lime Kiln Chamber
Looking down into the kiln reveals the stone lined chamber where limestone and fuel would once have been burned at extremely high temperatures to produce quicklime.
The Track Leading to the Kiln
A rough moorland track runs close to the kiln site and would have allowed carts to bring limestone and fuel to the kiln during its working life.
Views Across Teesdale from the Kiln
From the kiln site there are wide views across the Teesdale landscape, showing the farmland that lime produced here would once have helped to improve.
Visiting Sunnybrow Lime Kiln
The remains of Sunnybrow Lime Kiln are easy to miss among the grass and stones of Cotherstone Moor, but they offer a fascinating glimpse into the everyday working landscape of the Teesdale uplands.
Features like this small kiln remind us that the open moorland seen today was once part of a much busier farming landscape. Farmers living at nearby places such as East Loups and West Loups relied on simple but effective techniques like lime burning to improve their land and sustain their farms.
Although only slight remains survive, the kiln still tells a story of the practical ingenuity and hard work that shaped the rural landscape of Teesdale.
Access and Safety
Sunnybrow Lime Kiln lies on Ministry of Defence training land used as part of the nearby Catterick training area. Public access is usually allowed across the moor, but when red flags or warning lights are displayed the area is active and must not be entered.
Before visiting, it is advisable to check the Battle Hill training times to see whether the range is active. Always follow any signage on the moor and leave the area immediately if red flags are raised.