COWDALE LIME WORKS BUXTON

Cowdale lime works rise up on the hill to the left. Lime quarrying has been common in this part of Derbyshire ever since the 1800s. In 1891 fierce competition saw 13 quarry owners consolidate their 17 quarries into the Buxton Lime Firms. They were controlled by four directors who tried to create a monopoly by raising the price of lime. Around the turn of the 20th century they were produced 280,000 tons of lime per year and dominated the industry in Derbyshire. The Cowdale quarry was initially established in 1898 by the New Buxton Lime Co and listed as 'Staden Quarry'. The large stone-built kilns standing 50 foot high included a network of railway sidings above the A6. The four shaft kilns were taken over by the Buxton Lime Firms in 1908 and, shortly afterwards in 1909, three concrete buildings (the gate-house, power house and ancillary building) were built close to the A6 in a highly unusual 'neo-Egyptian' style. The firm supplied high quality lime to Brunner Mond who finally bought BLF in 1918. In the mid-1920s concrete buttresses were added to the kilns shortly before the works were merged in 1927 to form I.C.I. Ltd. Quarrying ceased in 1948 but the works remained in operation until 1955 in order to store stone. In the latter part of the 20th century the tramlines were removed and some of the mine's buildings were demolished. The remaining works were left to slowly decay.