Holliday Lime Kiln

Description
The stone ruin which survives near the south end of the property at 297 Otty Lake Side Road, North Burgess Ward of Tay Valley Township, is the remains of a 19^th century lime kiln. 

Heritage Value
Lot A, Concession 9 in North Burgess Township was one of the first lots to be settled as part of the Perth Military Settlement.  The lot, along with adjacent lands, was awarded to David Oliphant as a Military Grant in 1819, although Oliphant appears to have been on the property as early as 1817.  Oliphant sold Lot A, Concession 9 to John Holliday in 1829.  John Holliday was also an early military settler who had similarly arrived in 1817; he had been granted Lot A in Concession 10 in 1819.    

The 1863 Walling map shows significant settlement on Lot A, Concession 9 with five structures depicted on the property.  These include the stone residence of J.C. (John Calvin) Holliday, the frame residence of G. (George) Holliday, a lime kiln and two un-annotated buildings, possibly dwellings for tenants.  A lime kiln at this same location is also illustrated on the 1880 Belden map of North Burgess Township.  Other Holliday families resided on nearby lots.

While it has not been possible to determine when this lime kiln was constructed, it was likely operating by the mid-19^th century and perhaps significantly earlier.  The early settlers of the Perth Military Settlement would have used lime mortar for chinking their log homes, and lime mortar would have been essential for the more substantial stone buildings that were being erected as early as the 1820s.  Lime would also have been used for white-wash for waterproofing walls and lightening interiors; for plaster; and in agriculture for reducing soil acidity and improving crop yields.  Initially, limestone would have been burnt in the open air and lime production on a very small scale would have been undertaken by most settlers as they cleared their land.  By the 1850s, formal lime kilns were being constructed in Ontario, making lime production a far more efficient small-scale industry.   The 1851 census for North Burgess lists John Watts, who resided on Lot A, Concession 8, as producing lime, suggesting a commercial enterprise which would have included a formal lime kiln. 

Members of the Holliday family sold the south half of Lot A, Concession 9 to Andrew Watts, one of John Watts’ sons, in 1871.  An important focus for the lime industry is suggested by the 1871 census records which list five kilns operating in North Burgess Township, four of which were in the immediate vicinity of the Otty Lake Side Road, with another two kilns immediately to the east in North Elmsley Township. 

It is likely the Holliday lime kiln continued to produce lime for local mortar until Portland cement became readily available in the late 19^th century.  The kiln, however, may have continued to produce lime for other uses - notably as fertilizer - well into the 20^th century.  The substantial surviving ruins in combination with the historical records indicate that the Holliday lime kiln would have provided lime for commercial sale in the region over many decades.

Now often dismissed as inconsequential stone ruins of unknown use, lime kilns are a reminder of a once common small-scale industry that was vital to 19^th century settlement.   One of only three known lime kiln ruins remaining in Tay Valley Township and the best preserved of these, the Holliday lime kiln represents a significant heritage resource for the township.    

Defining Characteristics
Although the ‘Holliday’ lime kiln survives as a ruin, it retains several distinctive characteristics typical of a 19^th century lime kiln:

• The substantial rear and side walls of the kiln with the exposed well-constructed interior of the furnace shaft
• Evidence of the curving top of the kiln and of the stone ledge at the base that would have supported the fire and raw limestone
• Construction abutting a natural escarpment that would have facilitated loading the limestone into the top of the kiln and the extraction of the lime from the bottom
• The location adjacent to the Otty Lake Side Road for easy transportation of both the raw limestone to the kiln and the burnt or quick lime for sale to the surrounding region
  
  
  Photo Gallery: Holliday Lime Kiln will appear here on the public site.
  Photo credit: David Zimmerly