Limestone is the generic name for sedimentary rocks consisting mainly of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). It is formed from the remains of tiny shells and micro-skeletons deposited on the seabed over eons and compressed to form solid rock. In many areas, particularly the south of England, it is in the form of chalk - pure white and relatively soft. In other areas it is a brown, softish rock and in yet others it is blue and hard.

Drummuir Lime Kilns was located on a seam of unusually hard blue limestone that runs from Tomintoul through Drummuir and Grange to the coast at Portsoy. It doesn't appear on the large-area geological maps of the area, although it might show on more detailed maps. It has been suggested that the reason it doesn't show on the geological limestone maps is that the seam is not limestone but marble. This sounds exotic but marble is just limestone which the combination of intense heat and pressure over a long period has caused to re-crystallise as marble. Other substances often get incorporated into the stone during this process, creating the colours and patterns we usually associate with marble. If this is indeed what happened here, it will pre-date the earliest conformable sedimentary rocks, which are the Cambrian beds of 500 million years ago, and would probably be in the region of 500 - 1000 million years old. In view of the existence of Portsoy marble at the seaward end of the seam, this seems feasible.

Today, limestone in this area is usually crushed into a fine power for spreading on agricultural land (where it counteracts the natural acidity of the peaty water from the surrounding hills) or is crushed into various sizes of hardcore and gravel for roadmaking, concrete aggregate, etc. However, from the quarry's inception in ???? until 19?? it lacked the heavy machinery needed to crush and mill the limestone directly so kilns were used to heat the limestone and convert it from CaCO₃ to calcium oxide (CaO), which was known as quicklime or burnt lime. This was much softer, to the extent that it could be easily crushed between the fingers (although this is not recommended because it is highly corrosive). This friability allowed it to be crushed using a crusher driven first by a waterwheel on the Towie Burn and later by a steam engine. 

The quicklime was an extremely useful commodity, being used as the mortar for building "stone and lime" walls, for plaster, for whitewash, for sterilising and for agriculture. In the more industrialised areas it was used by the steel and chemical industries and to make cement.

Drummuir Limeworks was opened about ??? by a Mr Anderson, who also owned limeworks at Blackhillock, near Keith, and the Boyne, just east of Portsoy. Prior to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) a Henry (Harry) Wishart was working in Spain as a Mining Engineer. About the time the Civil war started he left Spain and purchased Drummuir Limekilns - there are a number of Andersons in the Wishart family tree so they may have been related.

The stone was quarried by blasting to bring down a section of the quarry face, and then the stone was broken up into two-hand-liftable pieces using hammers. This sounds very difficult but in fact the experienced quarrymen could break the stones "on the grain" with remarkably little effort. From the quarry's inception until about 1930 the only transport was a small railway of about ??? gauge, the wagons being manhandled or moved by horse. The broken stone was transported out of the quarry to the three kilns,  the remains of which can still be seen on the site. They were about ?? ft deep and about ?? ft diameter at the top tapering to about ?? ft at the bottom.

All the limestone produced was burnt in kilns to produce shell lime or ground shell lime.  The procedure for building a kiln was first a layer of small kindling which was laid on the very bottom. Then alternating layers of coal and limestone until there were a total of 5 layers of coal, thereafter limestone only, finishing off with a cone shape at the top, approx. 6ft high. This was then covered with wet shell lime. Approx. 2 days later after lighting the kiln, the top cone had to be plastered regularly to prevent any flames coming through, and to keep in the heat. In Dad's time there would have been more than one kiln burning at a time, but in Harry's time there was only one at a time, as there was less demand for shell lime by that time. About 10 days later the shells of lime began to be extracted. (Still
quite hot !!) In Dad's time there was an elevator from the kiln mouth to the mill, which was situated opposite the kiln mouth, and made in to ground lime. A lot of bagged shell lime was sold to Distilleries for whitewashing and sterilising purposes. The job of filling bags was usually done by Dad, Dod, and Harry, (after he started there - 1952)

Dave, my geologist boss at the museum says that the band in your area is metamorphosed limestone, ie marble. Does that seem right? In which case it pre-dates the earliest conformable sedimentary rocks,which are the Cambrian beds at 500 million years. He says the best guess is 500 to 1000 million years. The only other possibility is that you have a small pocket of later genuine limestone which is too small to register on a large area map and would only be shown (if at all) on a local detailed map, which he hasn't got.

Limestone is an organic, sedimentary rock. This means it was formed from the remains of tiny shells and micro-skeletons deposited on the sea bed. They were compressed to form solid rock. Limestone is made up of calcium carbonate and reacts with diluted hydrocloric acid. Limestone is formed in layers - called bedding planes. These bedding planes contain vertical cracks called joints. Joints and bedding planes make the rock permeable.

A general term for sedimentary rocks composed mainly of calcium carbonate. It varies in hardness from easily worked freestone to fine-grained oolites, some of which weather well and can be carved with precision. Some limestones will take a polish and are incorrectly known as marbles (e.g. Purbeck marble). Generally, however, it is used much more for building than for sculpture.

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There was quite a lot of employees when Dad worked there. Those I remember are : -

Dad (foreman)
Sandy McGregor (lorry driver)
Oliver Nicol (mill operator)
Robbie Smith - (crusher operator)
Dod McWilliam (our Dod) was on the Chaseside Shovel.
Harry Will was on the Dumper.

Then there was -

Jocky Cowie, Bert Mcintosh, Peter Reid, Jimmy McPherson (Dad sacked him'. ) Robbie Wink,Willie Dow (from the Glack). So the place was quite a hive of activity. There was a little railway that ran all the way from the close right down under the road bridge and onto the railway siding. I would assume apart from farming the only other employers in the area would have been the Towiemore Distillery and the Drummuir Estate. If I discover any more information I will let you know. Information compiled by your loving sister Greta. XX

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As far as is known, the first owner of Drummuir Limeworks was Mr. Anderson.
Our paternal grandfather was foreman and lived in a house at the Limeworks. This house was situated in the 'close' I don't know if Dad was born there, but certainly was there as a child. I think he attended Botriphnie School. I think Dad became foreman in Mr.Wishart's time. Pat was born in Keith, not sure about Dod. But if Dod was born at the limeworks, then we could date the time Dad took over to about 80 years ago. At that time they quarried the stone by blasting and then using hammers. All the limestone produced was burnt in kilns to produce shell lime or ground shell lime. The procedure for building a kiln was first a layer of small kindling which was laid on the very bottom. Then alternating layers of coal and limestone until there were a total of 5 layers of coal, thereafter limestone only, finishing off with a cone shape at the top, approx. 6ft high. This was then covered with wet shell lime. Approx. 2 days later after lighting the kiln, the top cone had to be plastered regularly to prevent any flames coming through, and to keep in the heat. In Dad's time there would have been more than one kiln burning at a time, but in Harry's time there was only one at a time, as there was less demand for shell lime by that time. About 10 days later the shells of lime began to be extracted. (Still
quite hot !!) In Dad's time there was an elevator from the kiln mouth to the mill, which was situated opposite the kiln mouth, and made in to ground lime. A lot of bagged shell lime was sold to Distilleries for whitewashing and sterilising purposes. The job of filling bags was usually done by Dad, Dod, and Harry, (after he started there - 1952)

Grinding lime shells was stopped by the time Harry started there. By that time they were making ground limestone. Production was approx 16 tons a day, all bagged at mill.When the bags weighed 1 cwt.they were lifted onto -a sack barrow, They were then moved two at a time out of the way.They then had to be tied at the top with a wire screw fastener. The lorry was loaded up with 8 tons at a time, either at the top door where the lime came out of the mill, or a lower door where
there was an area for storage. Back in the quarry - the stone was loaded onto a Chaeside Shovel by hand, then onto a Dump Truck.A steel rope on the Chaeside Shovel lifted the bucket when a lever was pulled. The Dumper then proceeded to the crusher and tipped the load - approx.5 ton on- stone.An operator then
hand fed the stone into the crusher.The mill was driven by a Ruston Hornsby engine ( I think). It had a large wheel which drove the belt into the mill. At the entrance to the quarry was a special store for holding explosives.  A compressor was used for drilling on the quarry face, also for secondar blasting of very large stones which were sometimes thrown out onto the quarry floor.

There was one Commer lorry for delivering the lime, with a capacity of 8 tons. This was all man handled onto the lorry - and off again. The lorry was garaged down at the bottom by the burn - opposite the house we lived in.