Lime kilns at Isleham

Built around 1860, these listed buildings are the remains of a thriving clunch quarrying industry in this Fen Edge village. Three of the kilns are preserved, with the fire hearths visible inside. The clunch rubble was loaded in through the circular openings at the top after being carted up the ramp. Fires were fuelled with coal and burned continuously. Quicklime was raked out at the bottom as the final product. Work stopped around 1935. These are now listed buildings. The site of the kilns is now a Local Geological Site.

The interiors may still house bats, so please approach and view the kilns (from the outside) with consideration.

See our Fen Edge page for more information on the local geology and its economic use, produced as part of our Geosites work on the seven Landscapes in the county of Cambridgeshire.

Isleham is the finishing point of our Fen Edge Trail which links the village to others on the edge of the Cambridgeshire Fens, from Peterborough, via Ramsey, St Ives and Cambridge to here on the border with Suffolk.

Location (Open Street Map)

View of kiln entrances

Circular loading opening with access ramp