Ticknall Life, Derbyshire

The Thringstone Fault crosses the parish of Ticknall from east to west, separating the Coal Measures clays to the south from the upthrust Carboniferous Limestone to the north. Other outliers of limestone occur at Calke, Dimminsdale, Breedon and Cloud Hill, but otherwise limestone is fairly rare in South Derbyshire.

The Romans were well aware that the burning of limestone to make quicklime gave a material which, when mixed with sand and water, produced a mortar which provided a very effective bond between stones or bricks for the erection of buildings.

The number of Roman buildings still standing in Europe testifies to the quality of the Roman mortar. The limestone (calcium carbonate) was burnt with coal in order to reach the high temperatures necessary to burn off carbon dioxide, leaving quicklime (calcium oxide). In the 18th century, the use of coke instead of coal allowed higher kiln temperatures, which, in more sophisticated kilns, led to lime of much higher purity.

Restricted Access Due to the potentially hazardous nature of the Ticknall Limeyards area, access is by party only and MUST be by prior arrangement with the Property Manager at Calke Abbey, telephone 01332 863822. There will be a small charge to cover the cost of the services of the National Trust guide.

To make mortar, the lumps of quicklime from the kiln are placed in a pit in the ground and water is thrown on to the lime which becomes very hot and crumbles into a powder called slaked lime. The slaked lime is then mixed with sand to make a mortar which must be used before it hardens on exposure to the air. Modern cement has been prepared with a minimum of water so that it will keep for long periods.

Medieval land husbandry was very inefficient, and it was the fact that such crops as wheat or barley exhausted the soil, which led to the development of the three-field system. In this technique, one third of all the land was allowed to lie fallow or planted with a regenerative crop such as peas or clover every three years before it could produce another wheat crop. This was obviously wasteful of land and it was soon found that treatment of the land with a calcareous clay called marl together with farmyard dung improved the fertility of the soil. It was only another short step to the spreading on the land of lime from limekilns which helped to break up clay soils and "manured" the land to give improved crop yields.

The dual use of lime for mortar and for fertiliser led to the development of small local industries centred on limestone outcrops. Owing to the problems with transport, such industries would only have supplied their own local areas. Such an industry grew up at Ticknall. Unburned limestone from the quarries was also used in the area for building of houses, cottages and walls.

This article is taken from the booklet "The Ticknall Limeyards" first published in 1999 by The Ticknall Preservation and Historical Society, and is reproduced here (with minor revisions) with their kind permission. For a full list of contributors please see "Acknowledgements" at the end of the article.
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