Images of the lime kiln on Skomer Island.

There are two quite large 19th Century lime kilns on the Island: one below the Information and Welcome Point (at the top of the path from the beach at North Haven) now used as a shelter, and one above the Information and Welcome Point, below the Harold Stone (see below). Lime was important on the island both to be used as mortar for the buildings and to spread on the land as a fertilizer, the volcanic rocks of the Island not giving rise to a naturally fertile soil. Limestone (and coal) would have been imported from the mainland, landed on the beach at North Haven and then moved to the kilns where it would be heated. The intense heat changed the rock, making in brittle and easy to crush to a fine powder ready for use.