This is the last remaining Lime Kiln that has
survived in Gibraltar. It appears that this type of Lime Kiln must have abounded in
Gibraltar as there is even a street named after them, proof of their usefulness to the
local community. These 'kilns' or ovens were used to produce lime for which there were
a variety of uses. Lime was used to whitewash buildings, to paint water cisterns so that
the water was free of bacteria and perhaps most importantly in times of plague, to pour
over dead bodies in mass graves to prevent further spread of disease.
This particular lime kiln is thought to date back to the late 19th or early 20th
Century and the heat resistant bricks were made in England.