Panorama Photo

Hasselt Hanzestad Kalkovens (correction)

For more than 5 centuries, limestone kilns were indispensable from Hasselt and Zwartsluis. Countless residents earned their living with it. In Hasselt two more examples have been preserved as an industrial monument. In the archives, lime kilns in Hasselt and Zwartsluis are mentioned for the first time in 1504 and 1538 respectively. Limestone kilns were used for the manufacture of shell lime, an important component of masonry mortar and concrete.
The industry was closely linked to shipping. The skippers fished the shells along the coast of the North Sea and the Wadden Sea. The skippers let their ship dry at low tide, after which the shells lay for the taking. Large amounts of peat were required for heating the shells. The skippers got the skippers from the Land van Vollenhove and from Drenthe. The end product, the lime, was not only sold in the region, but to a large extent also via the Zuiderzee in North and South Holland.

Canon G1X, 28 mm KB, portrait mode, made without a tripod