Charcoal Burning Platform, Plymouth Wood

Description

Throughout the wood are a number of circular platforms, about 8-10 m across, terraced into the hillside. These are probably areas for making charcoal – the fuel that would have baked the limestone in the limekilns – during the 19th century. To make the charcoal, wood collected from the surroundings was stacked into conical piles on these platforms and then covered by turf with an opening left at the bottom to serve as a flue. The wood was then set alight through the flue and, burning slowly without oxygen, resulted in the formation of charcoal. Charcoal was the favoured fuel for limekilns because it produced an intense heat much hotter than just burning timber.