Wool Bay jetty seen from the Lime Kiln site, Yorke Peninsula South Australia

            Lime Burning
The mining and burning of limestone was an important industry on Southern Yorke Peninsula from late in the 19th century until the 1950s.
Limestone was collected, burnt in kilns and shipped to Adelaide where it was used in mortar in the building industry. The Wool Bay-Stansbury district became the main supplier of lime for Adelaide’s buildings.

Wool Bay – An industrial site
By July 1908 three lime kilns were operating at the foot of these cliffs. In 1910 three more kilns and a blacksmith’s shop were built at the top of the cliff.
A small railway line took the jetty trucks full of bags of burnt limestone down to the jetty. Trace of these kilns and the lime-ash discarded from them is still visible today. 

The Wool Bay Lime Kiln
The plans for this kiln were brought back from England after World War One.
A brief report in the Yorketown “Pioneer” of 28 May 1921 reads: “Wool Bay – the new lime-kiln for Miller’s Lime Co has been visited by the Directors and is now at work.”
The kiln was a new design and was intended to burn continuously. But, possible because the site caused draught problems or perhaps because the original plans were altered, it was never burnt successfully.
The kiln remains a unit piece of architecture, a monument to the early stonemason’s craft and a reminder of a time when Wool Bay as an industrial area and its port one of the busiest on Southern Yorke Peninsula.

*Bulk-handling of grain was introduced at Port Giles in 1970, 3.5 kilometres away: subsequently Wool Bay's importance as a port dwindled.

When the township, situated above the bay, was proclaimed in 1876 it was given the name Pickering in honour of John Pickering the father of the Comptroller of Railway Accounts. 

When the jetty was built in 1882 (by Frank George) the locals referred to it as the Wool Bay Jetty and the town on the cliffs above became known as Wool Bay. The name was officially changed from Pickering to Wool Bay in September 1940.

Originally 155 metres long the jetty was extended a further 18 metres allowing a steamship service delivering provisions three times weekly. Bulk-handling of grain was introduced at Port Giles in 1970, 3.5 kilometres away: subsequently Wool Bay's importance as a port dwindled.

The jetty is popular with fishers and produces good catches throughout the year.
Leafy sea dragons live in the waters beneath the jetty. 



   

Taken on: October 6, 2018

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Sets appears in: • Yorke Peninsula Part 1 South Australia

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