Limestone Heritage

... is the story of how and why the AONB has evolved over time. It has been affected by the area's geology, its climate, wildlife and human occupation.

The Arnside and Silverdale AONB is underlain by vast deposits of Carboniferous Limestone, which were deposited in warm shallow tropical seas some 335 million years ago. During the Carboniferous period the terrain that would eventually form the British Isles lay around the equator. Over the intervening 300 plus million years since then, the limestone area has been moved around by plate tectonics ending up in more temperate latitudes where it now resides. (Over geological time the area will move further north still, crossing the arctic circle in another 50-100 million years). In all the travelling to its current home, the limestone rocks were folded and faulted by plate collisions and mountain building episodes.

The geology of the area has set the context for both the natural heritage of the area and its lifespan of human occupation and influence, with only the last Ice Age leaving any other indelible mark on this special landscape.

The flora of the area is particularly adapted to the special geological conditions. The pattern of settlement has been strongly influenced by the occurance of natural springs and the construction of wells.The landscape character has been wrought from the rock by both natural and man-made changes. The local economy developed and grew from the geological resources that could be exploited. Be it dry stone walls, lime kilns, quarries, farm houses, villages, railways or reedbeds - all have their roots in the limestone that is the foundation of the landscape.

 

Limestone Heritage Project

Given the dominance of limestone on life in the AONB, it was a natural target to bid for one of the very first National Lottery Area Partnership Schemes to be funded in the UK.

The Project proposal secured funding of £506,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund in September 2001, and the programme was launched in November that year. The eventual value of the Project benefits to the AONB was over £750,000.

The aims of the Limestone Heritage Project were to;

  • Conserve the limestone features of the Arnside/Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
  • Promote access to the limestone heritage of the area
  • Preserve the art of countryside skills such as dry stone walling
  • Raise awareness of the history of the landscape and the features contained within the AONB

 

Project Objectives

The five and a half year long Project set itself the following objectives;

  • To restore those neglected limestone heritage features considered to be key features of the landscape of the area.

  • To further the conservation and management of the AONB through bringing features back into a state of repair where they were capable of being sustained locally and encouraging people to access and enjoy the AONB in sustainable ways, using public transport

  • To improve and enhance opportunities for all people to access, enjoy and understand the AONB and its unique heritage.
  • To provide a best practice example of an integrated approach to heritage management and joint working between a large number of authorities, organisations and interest groups.

Programmes & Implementation

The Limestone Heritage Project consisted of four work programmes, each of which were designed to deliver on the aims and objectives of the Project.

These programmes covered:

  1. The restoration of significant, historic or functionally important dry stone walls in the AONB
  2. The repair and renovation of some of the 36 individual lime kilns located across the area
  3. The conservation of rare limestone pond habitats 
  4. Improvements to the access network in the AONB, particularly for bridleway users and those with mobility difficulties

Additionally the Project also developed a range of interpretation resources, including a website to raise awareness of the importance of the area's Limestone heritage.

The Project was managed by a dedicated Project Officer and delivered by AONB and partner staff, contractors, consultants and the AONB Volunteers.

 

You can download the final report document in pdf format here > LHP Project Report

Docs

Please click any of the links below to download documents.

 

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