TODAY I WENT TO A TINY PLACE CALLED BODDIN

TODAY I WENT TO A TINY PLACE CALLED BODDIN

I STILL DO NOT HAVE A CAMERA ALL THE PICTURES HERE WERE FOUND ON THE INTERNET

One of my friends from Art Class offered to take me out for a drive around today and we ended up at Boddin. Boddin is a tiny hamlet on the East coast of Scotland which lies between Lunan Bay and Montrose.

It’s a wild and windy place, a place consisting of a couple of farms, an old Bothy and the old Salmon House.

 At the bottom of a steep unkempt pathway there is a small, natural, harbour.

This was traditionally used by Salmon fishers; and looking inland and up onto the cliffs from the harbour you can see the remains of the old Salmon Fishing Station.

Boddin point is a small peninsular jutting out into the sea beside the harbour and on this point stands the ruins of one of the biggest limekilns in the area.

This limekiln is the focal point of the coastline for miles around.
The limekiln, like many others up and down this coast, was built around 1750 to provide for the landowners obsession of the time which was ‘’land improvement’’ where  lime was commonly used to reduce soil acidity.

The kiln was built by command of the local landowner, Robert Scott, of nearby Dunninald Castle. He discovered the land sat on a rich seam of limestone and promptly ordered the construction of a major limekiln, consisting of three kiln shafts.

The idea was that ships could call in to the natural harbour at Boddin Point to deliver coal from Fife to fire the kilns, then the same ships could transport the burnt lime residue to where ever it was needed.

Dunninald Castle

‘’A mansion and estate located 2 miles inland southwest of Montrose. Dunninald Castle was built in the Gothic-revival style to the designs of architect James Gillespie Graham (1776 - 1855) for Peter Arklay in 1824. Little remains of the first fortified building, Black Jack's Castle, erected in the 15th century for the Gray family. The second structure, an earlier Dunninald Castle, dating from the 17th century, was also home to the Grays, and it was from this castle that Robet Scott ordered the building of the limekilns.

This limekiln is one of the larger ones on the east Coast of Scotland, and the lime from here was used all over the country. The coal was fired in the bottom of the kiln and the limestone was taken up the ramp which circles the kiln and dropped into the kiln from above.

Erosion has seem much of the structure already fall into the sea.. It is still possible to climb up the ramp to the top of the kiln for fantastic views along the coast (which of course I did), BUT; it can be quite dangerous because the rest of the kiln is in danger of collapsing into the sea, the cliff erosion makes the cliff face dangerous and unpredictable and the tides are fast.
My only regret of the day is ……NO CAMERA….. all the pictures  here have been  found on the internet, but I promise you, it really does look like this.


http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/36303/details/boddin+point+limekilns/


http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=5269

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/montrose/boddinpoint/index.html