Glen Eden Lime Kiln Ruins

A trail is used to access the buildings, so be aware of insects and animals as it is within the middle of the woods. The trail can be accessed from either the Glen Eden ski hills or off of Appleby line. However, from Appleby line, there is no parking so I would suggest you approach from the Glen Eden entrance. There is a fence surrounding both of the mills and there are sharp objects in the form of old pieces of wood, metal, and stone from the mills. However, these are not an issue if you stay behind the fence.

Considered the best-preserved lime kilns in Ontario, the Christie-Henderson lime kilns are located within Kelso Conservation Area. In the 19th century, the lime mortar industry was vital to the growth of early towns. Lime was used in the building industry, glass manufacturing, and as a disinfectant. The area around Milton has always been known for aggregate extraction and the production of lime, limestone, and bricks.

History

1819 - This area was beginning to be settled by Scottish immigrants to the extent that the area became known as the Scotch Block.

Around 1835 - Charles Christie emigrated from Kelso, Scotland to the settlement they named Kelso in Halton County and saw the potential for quarrying at the site. His son, David Darling Christie (D.D. Christie) will be a very influential and important person in the development of lime production and extraction in the Guelph-Milton area for years to come.

March 4, 1840 - David Darling Christie is born

1875- The Credit Valley Railway built the line through Nassagaweya Township from Guelph to Guelph Junction, near Campbellville, seeing a great opportunity D.D. Christie opened a limestone quarry at Kelso. When the Canadian Pacific Railway took over the line, the station at Kelso was named Christie

1880 - D.D. Christie and family along with the Henderson family built the first of the Kelso Glen Christie Draw Lime Kilns and were built to be 55 feet tall

1903 - D.D. Christie and family along with the Henderson family built the second draw lime kiln and it is built to much of the same parameters as the first

1910 - D.D. Christie and family along with the Henderson family build the third and final lime kiln and it is built to different parameters from the other two. This kiln is shorter and of different construction techniques.  This set kiln was used by loading limestone in and packing firewood around it.  The method was slow and required a cool-down period before the product could be removed.

July 1922 - A small tramway was installed to bring limestone to the kilns. Rock could be brought from the quarry to the kiln in under 2 minutes, this was an improvement over the previous method of using horses to haul the stone to the kiln.

April 15, 1929 - D.D Christie sells the quarry, kiln, and all other operations at Kelso to Canadian Gypsum, Lime, and Alabastine Co.

1959 - Gypsum Lime and Alabaster Limited sold to Dominion Tar (Domtar)

Around 1960- Dominion Tar (Domtar) closes the facility

February 17, 1998 - The two standing kilns and the remainder of the third collapsed kiln receive a heritage designation from the community of Milton

November 7, 2014 - Shannon L. Christie, descendant of D.D Christie visits and photographs her ancestor’s creation

How A Lime Kiln Works And Other Info.

A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical reaction for this is

CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2

Excessive temperature is avoided because it produces unreactive, "dead-burned" lime (useless).

Slaked lime (CaOH) can be formed by mixing quick lime with water.

These kilns were “draw” kilns, where the limestone was layered with wood and lit. Imagine a layer of wood then lime, then wood then lime, all the way to the top. As it burnt through, lime was extracted from the bottom of the kiln, through the draw hole. Further layers of stone and fuel were added to the top. Temperatures in the oven could reach as high as 1800 degrees F. The person who filled the furnace was known as a fireman and he made $1.00 per day.  He had to load about 1024 cubic feet of wood into the two kilns each day. The four quarry workers each made $1.25 daily.  The foreman was paid $400 per year. Chunks of limestone were moved from the quarry behind the kilns to the kiln site.  From here they were dumped into the top of the kiln to be burnt into lime.