Castlecary Lime Works

Headland Archaeology Ltd was commissioned by Historic Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Executive to undertake a topographic and earthwork survey of the Castle Glen industrial area (Site 68), North Lanarkshire. The Castle Glen area is part of extensive industrial remains surviving throughout the Castlecary glen which include lime workings, quarrying and mining. Other probable contemporary features include banks, trackways, revetting and terracing. The earthwork and topographic survey comprised the recording of visible archaeological remains located in the glen. A putative clamp kiln was identified during the works. An evaluation was undertaken on the feature in december 2007. It was revealed to be two mounds of made ground, one associated with the construction of the A80 and the second probably with the construction of the river revetment.

Information from OASIS ID: headland1-49758 (L Scott) 2007.

NS 7870 7785 Well preserved lade starts at remains of rubble dam on Red Burn at NS7855 7745, where river valley widens. Lade 2.4m wide with raised banks 1.2m high, continues downstream parallel to burn to NS 7860 7757. Then arcs around foot of slope, remote from burn, reaching up to 30m from burn to NS 7864 7766 where most prominent, 5m wide with raised bank 1.5m high. E bank merges with old rubble dyke. Continues on terrace on left bank of burn to front of large adit mouth (‘Mine’ on OS plans) at NS 7864 7773.

NS 7865 7775 Site of bridge over minor burn with part of structure surviving as steel train rails. Smaller waggonway rails scattered around.

NS7870 7785 Partly ruined dressed rubble triple draw kiln, with brick-lined egg-shaped pots and three draw arches facing burn. Long scarp with series of adits to NW, two adits approached by hollow ways.

NS7872 7788 Narrow clamp kiln 2.5m high, narrowing with depth, with exposed scorched boulder lining.

NS 7883 7806 Large rubble-lined clamp kiln c18m long, close to Red Burn. Several crater-like circular depressions scattered around, indicating mine shafts.

Funder: Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland

S Nisbet 2007

The extensive remains of the former Castlecary Lime Works are located in Castle Glen and include limekilns, earthworks, revetment walls and quarries.

Sections were excavated through four walls to establish their dimensions and details of construction. The walls appeared to act as revetments to prevent land slippage and so maintain the various trackways and levelled areas that were utilised in the lime works. Excavation showed that level ground had been created for them by cutting into the valley slope. The walls were then erected using angular rubble of 0.1-0.6m length, with random coursing and no bonding material . They ranged from 0.4-0.7m in both height and width. The sections revealed ashale-rich fill behind each wall, which may represent redeposited materialfrom mining. Ceramics recovered date to the 19th/20th centuries and are therefore consistent with the period in which the lime works were known to be active.

Monitoring of topsoil stripping revealed natural geology comprising light brown mudstone and shale lenses. Overlying this were make-up deposits ranging from 0.5-2m depth, which comprised dark grey shale-rich deposits as well as red Brown sand and ash mixed with rubble. These deposits are likely to be dumped waste material from both the mine shafts and kilns. They were sealed in places by mixed sandy loam deposit which was up to 2m deep and contained slag, modern pottery, masonry and brick. Within this deposit were the redeposited remains of demolished brick structures, including a 1m section of mortared wall. These remains may derive from structures in the vicinity depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, however may equally be introduced material dumped as overburden during construction of the A80.

Four test pits were also excavated adjacent to the haul road, to a depth of 3m. They further revealed modern make-up deposit containing brick, rubble, ash and shale. A 2m length of mortared wall was recorded in the modern make up deposit.

Alistair Robertson, Headland Archaeology Ltd 2012. OASIS ID: headland1-101979

Alistair Robertson, Headland Archaeology Ltd 2012. OASIS ID: headland1-101979