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 Two hundred years ago some of the poorest homes in the Peak existed around Grin Low at the northern end of Axe Edge. Limestone was quarried and burned, leaving vast mounds of lime waste. These hillocks became hardened by the weather and were hollowed out as living quarters for lime burners and their families.
Known as ash houses, they were kept warm by heat from the nearby kilns. Some dwellings had just one round room with a chimney; others had as many as five rooms and housed large families. Roofs were sometimes laid with turf. Cows occasionally grazed on the roofs, where grass, ferns and thistles grew.
On 26 June 1863 Sarah Beeson, Ann Beeson, John Beeson and Ann Hampton, who lived in a lime ash hovel in Dove Holes Dale, were killed when it collapsed. Owing to the swelling of the hillock, perhaps due to very hot weather, the sides closed together. The roof fell in and all four were buried alive and suffocated.
More Pictures
Houses great and small
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