Littlebeck Alum Works

 quarry, historic landmark

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Littlebeck Alum Works operated intermittently from c1660 and is one of the earliest inland alum quarries; it closed c 1809. Alum was principally used in the textile industry as a fixing agent for clothing dyes; it was also used by tanners to produce supple leather. After the shale had been quarried it was heaped into large mounds, fired and left to smoulder for up to nine months. The shale was then tipped into leaching tanks where it was left to soak in water. The solution, containing aluminium sulphate was drained off and ran along stone or wooden conduits known as liquor troughs to the alum house. Here the water was boiled away from the solution in evaporating pans. An alkali, derived from human urine or burnt kelp, was added to cause precipitation of the alum crystals. The crystals were then bagged and transported for sale. The burnt shale left in the leaching pits was either disposed of nearby to form enormous shale tips or thrown in to the sea. In addition to the quarry, this site has evidence for an alum house, trackways, steeping pits and spoil heaps. Further archaeological evidence is likely to be found in the water logged quarry floor. The site is located on the north east bank of the Little Beck, to the south of Lousey Hill Lane.

www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1455842