The Limekilns

This eye-catching group of tall limekilns is the last of its kind in France with complete chimneys. Three of the four original kilns were restored by a voluntary association between 1999 and 2002 and stand over 20m high. Visitors can follow interpretation panels or take guided tours. The kilns were built in 1881 after a deposit of limestone was discovered during railway construction. They are stone and firebrick held by iron bands. Coal and limestone were brought across a bridge from a yard at the rear, hoisted up to doors at the base of the chimneys and dropped into the kilns. At the bottom, a roof across the front of the row provided a dry space where the bunt lime was loaded onto railway wagons or taken to the nearby processing shed to be slaked with water. Most of the lime produced was used as fertilizer. The kilns last worked in 1961, after the railway closed and other fertilizers became common.