The "Beauty In Decay" series was started by Lost2011 in 2015 to highlight abandoned objects, which once had purpose and now take on a different life, left to ruin and decay in their current surroundings. To discover more about "Beauty In Decay", Click on the following link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcmiFYz5nja1RPgbfeuomoNxYr5FOzBajqB74rLkJJo/edit?usp=sharing
Buxton lime kilns were built in 1888 by Mr A.E.Peache.
They remained in operation until the closure of these kilns in 1963, Which the operations was then uplifted and moved to Oamaru.
The lime was used for the building trade and for agricultural use, The lime was sourced from the Vincent Lime quarry which is located just 3.5kms down the road, which is definitely worth having a look around also.
the lime was transported by a tramway to the kilns where it was crushed and feed into the kilns for burning, It was then loaded onto horse and cart for transportation.
After trucks became widely used and popular the concrete loading platform at the front of the kilns was added for the ease of loading trucks for transportation.
The use of the large stone crusher up the hill shows the change from hard manual labour with hammers and shovels to mechanisation, and now stands today as a "Beauty In Decay" for us to enjoy.
To get to the lime kilns:
From the parking waypoint. go through the gate and head straight ahead towards the fenceline where you will find a stile to cross over the fence and then a semi defined marked track which leads over to the kilns or up the hill to the stone crusher.
When going up to the crusher please beware as this is the top of the kilns and there is holes in the ground where the chimneys of the kilns are and also a hole in the ground where the lime was fed down a chute to the lower part of the kilns.
This is a historic site so please take care and enjoy having a look around as this is a very cool place to see some of our local history.
