Modern lime quarry.


Quarrying at Billown appears to have begun in 1834 at the northern end of the site. Two large quarry pits, apparently disused and one of them partially wooded, are shown on the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1868; two sets of three lime kilns, both marked 'Old Limekilns' are associated with them.


To the south, the OS shows two further quarry pits, marked 'Quarries', associated with a further set of three 'Limekilns': these would appear to form the working part of the complex at this point. The more southerly of the two quarries is flooded, but adjacent to it is a structure marked 'Engine House'. This houses a steam engine used to pump the quarry sufficiently clear of water to allow working to continue. In 1892 the steam engine was replaced by a wind-powered pump, which subsequently was repositioned in a number of locations, as an additional quarry was begun further south.


Quarrying recommenced at Billown during the 1990s at a location immediately to the NW of the complex. The grid reference marks the centre of quarrying activity up to the present day.