Lime kiln at Wool Bay photographed on 15 July 2008.

Wool Bay is situated on the Yorke Peninsula coast between Stansbury and Coobowie. The town was established in 1876 with the name Pickering but this was changed to Wool Bay in 1940. In 1882 a jetty was built for the export of wool and wheat. Later lime kilns were built to take advantage of the local limestone removed from paddocks by farmers. David Miller & Sons, and later Charles Dry from Stansbury established lime kilns. Dry travelled to England to study the newest mathods of lime processing in the early 20th century and on his return he built a large wood burning kiln on the foreshore. It was however not a great success having problems with its draught. In 1910 the Register newspaper recorded that two boats 'are constantly employed in freighting lime to Adelaide.' Miller who operated the kilns opened in 1910 had considerable experience in the business: 70% pure lime was extracted with the process, and the limestone was carefully selected from the plentiful supply in the district. Each of the new kilns produced 280 bags of lime, the limestone being burned for 26 hours using a combination of wood and coke.

The remaining lime kiln stands out prominently in the cliff face behind the jetty and has one large semi-circular opening at the face of the structure with a smaller opening above. Charles Dry built the kiln using the draw kiln technique but it was never successful due to draught problems. Supporting infrastructure consisting of sheds, tracks, cranes, etc were all destroyed in the 1970s. The kiln was the largest of the wood-burning kilns in the district, which was one of the major lime-producing areas in South Australia until the development of Portland cement production by Brighton Cement and Adelaide Cement (later combining as Adelaide Brighton Cement) in the 20th century. This kiln still stands today and is heritage listed.

A lime kiln is a kiln used to produce quicklime by the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate). This reaction takes place at 900°C or up to 1000°C. Lime has been used in building for hundreds of years to aid the setting of mortar and plaster. It is also used in sewage treatment, for burial of bodies in open graves to aid in decomposition and in forensic science to reveal fingerprints.

Wilson, J.G. Southern and central Yorke Peninsula: its industries, resources and attractions Adelaide: Sharples Bros., [1909]

Gee, Lionel C. E. and Brown, H. Y. L. Record of the Mines of South Australia, 4^th edtion, Adelaide, 1908

Stansbury 1873-1973, 1986 [Stansbury, S. Aust.]: Stansbury Centenary Committee, 1986 p. 7 Dry Family

Opening of Wool Bay limekilns Register 16 August 1910 p. 8 col. c

Wool Bay Chronicle 20 August 1910 p. 44 col. e

Australian Heritage Register: Lime kiln Wool Bay

Yorke Peninsula History and Heritage : Wool Bay