Lime burning at Seahouses harbour appears to date from a lease of 1768 which granted rights to quarry for lime at North Sunderland Snook, mine the local coal seams, and to erect kilns to serve the coastal trade.

These kilns were supplied with stone by a waggonway from the quarries to the top of the kilns. After burning, the lime was then loaded onto the waiting sailing ships alongside. The last shipment of lime from Seahouses was in 1858 and the kilns have seen use for storage since then.