A GRANT of almost £200,000 in lottery funding has been secured by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for the restoration of Langcliffe Quarry's Hoffman Kiln.

The national park authority revealed the news this week that they had secured a grant of £182,500 towards a £350,000 conservation project.

Alice Owen, head of conservation and policy at the national park, said: "The Heritage Lottery Fund money is the final piece in the jigsaw of funding. We will now realise our dream, shared with the local community, and conserve what is one of the national park's greatest industrial archaelogical remains.

"In two years' time we will be completing a project that has benefited from the support and determination of many people and bodies including Craven District Council and this national park authority."

Proposals for a project to conserve the quarry's lime-burning heritage were first mooted in 1993.

The quarry is home to the celebrated Hoffman Kiln - now a scheduled ancient monument and said to be the largest and best preserved example of its kind in the UK.

The quarry itself now forms part of the Settle-Carlisle conservation area and quarrying has been carried out there since the mid-19th century.

The site is adjacent to a public footpath and also contains a triple draw kiln, the base of a steel vertical kiln, a tramway tunnel and incline planes. It also has ecological importance with rare plants and birds being observed.

A bat roost is also established in the Hoffman Kiln and a report two years ago spoke of a rare cave-dwelling spider which had made its home there.

The Hoffman Lime Kiln was used between 1873 and 1931 for brick-making and during the Second World War for chemical storage.

Since then it has been falling into decay, and the grant will go towards repairs and consolidation work. The triple kiln and steel kiln on the site will also be repaired and research will be carried out to establish their detailed history.

The area will be landscaped and interpretation provided so that the public can understand the historic significance of the site as well as appreciate the natural habitats which have developed in the disused quarry.

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