Lime Burner

Lime powder is used for making plaster, which is needed in large quantities in the Middle Ages for building churches and cathedrals. Lime kilns were set up deep in lonely forests where there was plenty of wood for burning. The kiln is heated up to 1100 degrees centigrade to burn the lime rock, and then kept running 24 hours a day, with one man working a 12-hour day shift and another a 12-hour night shift. The work is hot, exhausting, and dangerous: lime rock gives off poisonous fumes as it burns, so it is common for lime burners to lose consciousness and collapse into their own burning kilns. When the lime is extracted, it then has to be neutralised by being plunged into water, which sets it spitting and frothing violently. Any lime that lands on skin will burn straight through it, leaving horrible scars; if it goes into your eyes, you will be blinded for life.