INDUSTRIES 



Although chalk has been used for building 

 purposes, notably in the chancel of Ditchling 

 church, and in recent times at Lancing college, 

 Parkminster and Arundel, its commercial value 

 lies in its use for conversion into LIME, either 

 for mortar or for manure. The early method of 

 burning seems to have been in pits. In 1407, 

 when certain repairs were being done to the 

 castle of Pevensey, 40 1 8d. was paid ' for making 

 a pit to burn lime,' and 30*. ' for burning 3 pits- 

 full of lime,' the high rate of payment indicating 

 that successful burning required considerable skill 

 at that time, as it did later. In 1535 the arch- 

 bishop was receiving 231. 4^. for the rent of a 

 ' lymepytte ' at Ringmer, 41 and five years earlier 

 the 'lymepytte' had brought in 13*. \d., while 

 an additional IOJ. had been received from the 

 prior of Lewes for chalk from Cliffe, 42 no doubt 

 from the same ' quarry of the cliffs of Southram 

 near Lewes,' whence chalk was obtained for 

 making mortar in the reign of Edward IV. 43 

 At what period the lime-kiln was introduced it 

 is difficult to say, but during the eighteenth and 

 early nineteenth centuries, when the liming of 

 arable was almost universal on Sussex farms, 

 nearly every large farm near the chalk hills 

 possessed a kiln. These kilns 44 were usually 

 cask-shaped, about 8 ft. in diameter at top and 

 bottom and 9 ft. in the centre and some 10 ft. in 

 height ; the walls were of stone lined with bricks, 

 and about 3^ ft. thick ; the floor was ' dishing,' 

 or hollow, and surrounded by a stone 'bench' on 

 which the chalk to be burnt was built up into a 

 kind of oven, leaving a vaulted hollow for the 

 fuel, which was introduced through the mouth 

 or eye in one side of the kiln. The art lay in 

 ' setting the kiln,' that is to say, in building up 

 the arch of chalk so that it should be strong 

 enough to bear the weight of the chalk which 

 was placed upon it, the larger pieces being put 

 lowest and the top filled with small pieces and 

 finally covered with bricks, so that the fire might 

 readily and evenly pass through the mass, but not 

 escape to waste at the top ; as the ' setting ' re- 

 quired expert knowledge, lime-burning became 

 an industry of some importance and not ill-paid, 

 I Of. being the charge for setting a kiln. Such a 

 kiln as has just been described would require 

 I ,OOO 'spray-bavins,' or faggots, for fuel, costing 

 about j 2 IOJ., and would yield some 250 bushels 

 of lime, which in 1798 fetched at Pet worth jd. 

 the bushel, 45 and at Hastings from 50;. to 54*. 

 the hundred bushels. 46 Besides these ' flame 

 kilns' there were large 'tunnel kilns' using coal. 

 The latter fuel seems to have been occasionally 

 used for this purpose at a very early date, as in 



40 Dy. of Lane. Accts. bdle. 32, No. 24. 



41 Pahr Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 2. 



" Lambeth Ct. R. 1328. 43 Ibid. 1306. 



44 Marshall, Rural Economy of the Southern Counties, 

 179 ; Young, A gric. of Suss. 206-9. 



45 Marshall, loc. cit. 4S Young, op. cit. 205. 



1288 'sea coal' was obtained at Seaford to use 

 in burning lime at Willingdon. 47 In these 

 ' tunnel,' ' draw ' or ' perpetual ' kilns a layer of 

 faggots and wood was first laid, and on that were 

 placed alternate layers of coal and chalk ; the 

 faggots were then lit, and the lime, as it was 

 burnt, drawn out at the bottom, fresh layers of 

 coal and chalk being added at the top. 48 Both 

 types of kiln are still in use, though coal fuel is 

 now used in each case ; opinions as to quality of the 

 resultant lime appear to differ, and it seems prob- 

 able that with equal skill and care equally good 

 lime can be produced by either process, the 

 ' draw ' kiln having the advantage of a greater 

 output. The kiln described by Young was of 

 1,200 bushels' capacity with a daily yield of 300 

 bushels of lime. This was at Hastings, where, 

 as also at Rye, there were important kilns sup- 

 plied from the Holywell chalk pits near East- 

 bourne, about 350,000 bushels being consumed 

 in a year at the end of the eighteenth century. 4 " 

 It is probable that the consumption of chalk 

 increased considerably, as there were only sixteen 

 sloops employed in the trade when Young wrote, 

 but in 1833 there were often twenty or twenty- 

 five boats loading at Holywell, and new kilns had 

 been erected at Wallsend and Pevensey. 50 In 

 1851 there were sixty-six persons engaged in 

 quarrying and burning lime ; this number had 

 risen to seventy-six in 1871, but fell to forty- 

 seven in 1901, the decrease being no doubt 

 largely due to the much smaller use of lime as a 

 manure. This cause has especially affected the 

 production of lime from the pure white chalk, 

 that made from the grey chalk, or limestone, 

 being more suitable for mortar and cement, so 

 that the principal limeworks at present are those 

 of Messrs. Pepper, at Amberley, and Newington 

 at Glynde and Lewes ; there are also two works 

 at Pulborough, and one at Jevington. Details 

 of output are difficult to give, as there are constant 

 fluctuations, the supply being controlled by the 

 demand. 51 



Closely connected with the lime industry is 

 the manufacture of CEMENT. ' The Sussex 

 limestone, upon trial, has been discovered to be 

 superior both to the Maidstone and Plymouth 

 stone, and it is now supposed that for cement 

 none equal to it is found in the kingdom.' b ' 2 As 

 a consequence of this natural advantage several 

 important cement works have been established 

 in the county, namely those of Messrs. Newing- 

 ton and Pepper at Amberley, the Sussex Portland 

 Cement Co., at Newhaven and at Upper 

 Beeding, and the Lewes Portland Cement Co. 

 at Lewes. These all employ a considerable 

 number of hands, and turn out a good quality 



" Exch. K.R. Accts. bdle. 479, No. 15. 

 48 Young, op. cit. 204. 4 ' Ibid. 203, 



50 Wright, Bygone Eastbourne, 68. 

 61 H. W. Wolff, Suit. Indus. 1 1 3. 



51 Young, op. cit. 13. 



231 



