TOSSON LIME KILN -The River Coquet - Source to Sea Traditional Cache
TOSSON LIME KILN -The River Coquet - Source to Sea
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A picnic area with historical interest - access via the car park to the south of the kiln.
The River Coquet, 40 miles in length, rises in the Cheviot Hills, flows northeast, and enters the North Sea at Amble. Coquet Island lies just off the mouth of the river. This series of caches will take you to some interesting places along the course of the river, always through terrific scenery.
The kiln was built around 1888 for the Cragside estate and is certainly the best preserved lime kiln in Northumberland. Situated less than half a mile from the village of Great Tosson the site has panoramic views across the Coquet valley to the foothills of the Cheviots.
Lime is one of the oldest products known to man, and dates back to the stone-age. Primitive kilns believed to have been used to produce lime during this era have been excavated and it is believed that lime is the first manufactured chemical to be used by man. This was most probably in farming although it is also one of the oldest mortar materials known. In fact lime plaster in reasonably good condition has been found in the pyramids, some 4,500 years old.
During the war many lime kilns were closed down for fear that the glow of the furnace would attract the enemy by night.
The top of this kiln is now surrounded by a fence but shortly after the war a cow wandered too close and fell in. Although it was apparently unharmed after a drop of some fifteen feet it proved difficult to extract it and the door and wall at the north side was removed. Rumour has it the cow was unscathed but the enlarged hole remains to this day.
Caches in the 'The River Coquet Source to Sea' Series:
THE SOURCE, USWAY BURN, LADY'S WELL, TOSSON LIME KILN, COQUET VIEW, STEPPING STONES, CRAGSIDE, GUYZANCE MEMORIAL, THE HERMITAGE, COQUET ISLAND.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Orarngu gur guveq fgrc oruvaq n fgbar.