Dear Martin,
At Morwellham Quay in West Devon, we have a large limekiln with some odd features, notably side passages, apparently for inserting coal and/or limestone into the kiln during the burn. There is however, a description of the site from 1826 which refers to coke ovens. We have always assumed this to be misinterpretation, but in view of your comments on coke ovens often looking like limekilns, I'm beginning to wonder, especially as the operators also ran an iron foundry. The date is early 19th century, probably c.1816-1820, going out of use by the 1840s or early 1850s.
Any ideas?
Robert
Martin , every time I look at this
structure I think it was experimental, If you slide inside you can find
small pieces of coke if you dig down a little. This operation looks too
labour intensive to be effective,and the vollume of product too small
and as you say where was the market? Ken
On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 14:34:16 +0000 Martin Roe
wrote:
> Evidence of coke prodution can be found at many of the upland coal sites,
> although surviving evidence of coke ovens can be rare. The oven at Fountains
> Fell is well known but it is unclear if it was ever used. At Tanhill coke
> ovens were built into the sides of tips and the presence of coke suggests a
> similar arrangement at some of the Fountains Fell shafts. This is yet
> another area where more research and understanding is required. For example
> is there any evidence that converting the coal to coke either made it a more
> saleable product or made it easier to transport? These coke ovens are very
> simple, more like lime kilns than retorts, should we call the product coke?
>
> Martin Roe
|