A piece of the province’s history is tucked away in View Royal.

Believed to have been built in the early 1900s and standing nearly 30 feet tall, an almost intact lime kiln is one of the few remaining throwbacks to the Town’s industrial history. Unknown to most passersby, the relic is the only remaining kiln in not only the town but the province.

“It’s the only standing lime kiln that anybody knows of in B.C.,” said Coun. John Rogers, noting there are foundations of similar kilns to be found.

Now thanks to an agreement with the current land owner, the Town will soon own the kiln on Hart Road and a small patch of land surrounding it. Determining the best route to restore the hulking artifact and guarantee public access to it is the next task, Rogers said. Until that can be done it’s important that people stay away from the structure for their own safety and to protect the integrity of the kiln.

“It forms a phenomenal identity for View Royal,” he said. “View Royal (was at the) hub of limestone quarrying and burning.”

The kiln was built in typical English style, Rogers said. A base of roughly 15 feet by 15 feet is constructed from limestone blocks, held together with metal strapping and mortar. Brickwork makes up the main access hole in the front — where the lime dust would have been raked out from, in two secondary access points possibly used to load lime into the kiln or stoke the fire and up the main kiln shaft. While heavily corroded and missing in places now, the upper brickwork is shrouded in a metal jacket.

“It’s homemade in the sense that it’s not a really high-tech (kiln),” Rogers said.

Lime quarries were scattered throughout the area during that time period. Their locations include what is now Hart Road and Helmcken Road, near Thetis Lake Regional Park and on the Malahat, near Devereux Lake. The remaining kiln was owned by the Atkins family — now the namesake for Atkins Road in Langford. The family operated Atkins Brothers Silica Lime Brick Company until the 1930s.

Why the kiln ceased production is unclear, Rogers said. Further research needs to be done to locate more of the kiln’s history along with remediation work to the structure itself.

“We know that we have a really significant project here,” he said, noting the estimates are anywhere between $50,000 and $70,000 to remediate the site.

The kiln itself needs to be cleaned up and re-enforced. Some of the stone work is crumbling and there are literally trees growing from the side of it. The land around it will be excavated to see if there are any artifacts.

“We have only scratched the surface,” he said. “We have a history above ground and a history below ground.”

Town staff are tasked with finding the best method of preserving the kiln and turning the small portion of land it is on into a public park of sorts. An interpretive panel would describe it’s significance and the underbrush and trees will be cut back to make the site accessible, Rogers said.

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com