Images of Wales

Penwyllt

Photography by Venita Roylance
Above: Penwyllt Inn viewed from the east.

Photography by John Ball
Above: Penwyllt Inn viewed from the southeast. In the distance is Cribarth Mountain. Alan Doyle writes: The grassy area just in front and to the left of the pub was known as ''The Stump Piece'' and I can remember as a child all the villagers used to get together and play games there.

Photography by Venita Roylance
Above: To the north of the inn is the 2,366-foot Fan Hir.

Photography by John Ball
Above: From this viewpoint, 100 yards in front of the inn, the remains of some old limekilns are visible on the left.

Photography by John Ball

Above and below: The limekilns in front of Penwyllt Inn. The kilns date from the second half of the nineteenth century. The structure contains four kilns whose drawholes can be seen in these photographs. The kilns were used to burn limestone and convert it into lime (calcium oxide) used in the production of morter and cement, and for treating acidic soil. As the 1891 map shows, there were a number of other limekilns in the area.

Photography by Venita Roylance
Below: The drawholes have been bricked up.

Photography by John Ball

Photography by John Ball
Above and below: From the top of the structure one can peer down into the kilns.

The walls of the kiln shown above have collapsed, while the brick lining of the kiln below left is still in place. All four kilns are blocked with earth and vegetation.
Photography by John Ball		Photography by John Ball

The photo above right shows the view to the south from the top of the limekilns. Barely visible in the distance is an old bridge over the trackbed of the railway line which once ran from Neath to Brecon, via Coelbren Junction and Penwyllt.

The limekilns were served by a siding from the railway line (see 1891 map). The limestone for the kilns came from the crags behind the old Penwyllt Inn. The waste from these kilns was taken across the railway track immediately in front of the kiln drawholes and was piled up on the other side. The waste contains unburnt coal and a white friable concretion caused by the slaking of small particles of lime too small to use. Lime was normally removed as large lumps several inches across. It had to be transported in covered wagons to prevent the rain slaking the lime in a violent exothermic reaction.