Minera Limeworks
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Country | Wales |
| Production | |
| Products | Lime |
| History | |
| Opened | 1852 |
| Active | 1852-1972 |
| Closed | 1993 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Lafarge Aggregates |
The Minera Limeworks were extensive lime quarries and kilns at Minera in Wrexham, Wales. It was located at grid reference SJ253520, near the villages of Gwynfryn, Minera, and Coedpoeth and was locally referred to as The Calch.
The Minera Limeworks were once the largest lime workings in the north of Wales. Limeburning at Minera is recorded from as early as 1620 but the Minera Lime Company was established in 1852. The total output from the Minera area quarries was estimated, in 1859, to be around 300,000 tons, with 200,000 tons of this converted to lime.
The Minera Lime Company became a limited company in 1865, and this prompted some heavy cash injection into the works. Using this money, the company erected a "Hoffmann kiln". Originally destined for brickmaking, it was soon converted to limeburning. This kiln still exists and is one of three that were purpose-built for lime burning left in the UK: another is located at Langcliffe in Yorkshire, another is located at Llanymynech Limeworks.
The quarries had their own steam locomotive and hundred of open coal wagons and closed lime wagons at its peak. Hornby Railways and Dapol both have model wagons detailing the Minera Lime Co. It also had extensive kilns, still there to this day. The works closed in 1972 and the Wrexham and Minera Branch railway lines were pulled up at around the same time.
Blasting and quarrying of limestone, used for road building materials, continued at the site until 1993.
...
Wikipedia