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The History of the Llanymynech Lime Kilns Heritage Area
Pre-history: c1000BC
This is the remains of the iron age hill fort which has been partly quarried away.
• Evidence of fortifications and mining activity
Roman: 43AD to 410AD
There is evidence of metal extraction on Llanymynech rock in Roman times.
• Evidence of metal extraction & working on the hill-fort
• 30 Roman coins found in a copper mine in 1965
• Llanymynech rock is a possible site of Caractacus’s last stand against the Romans
Medieval: 5th-15th Centuries
Offa's dyke probably used the western rampart of the hillfort.
• 8th Century: Offa’s Dyke probably used western rampart of the hillfort
• 1193-1195: unsuccessful silver mining venture at Carreghofa
• Late medieval: unenclosed common land on the hill; ridge & furrow cultivation on the lower slopes
Industrial: 18th-20th Centuries: the emergence of the industrial landscape
Limestone extraction reached a peak at Llanymynech in the mid 19th Century.
• Limestone quarried on an industrial scale by two separate companies
• Made possible by improved roads and the arrival of the canal, and then the railway
• The inclined planes with their associated buildings and limekilns radically changed the landscape
Post-industrial: 20th Century onwards
This incline plane was constructed in 1806 to take limestone for processing down to the lime kilns below the quarry at Llanymynech Rock.
• 1914: closure of the Hoffman Kiln and rock siding railway branch end the industrial era
• Nature has re-established itself
• Leisure activities: golf, rock climbing, nature trails and dog walking.