The limeworks, which employed 50 people, closed in 1914

The site at Llanymynech, near Welshpool in Powys, includes a 140ft Hoffman kiln, one of just three left in the UK.

The work is being partially financed by a �452,000 grant from the heritage lottery fund awarded last autumn.

A parallel project to restore the Montgomery Canal which runs through the area is being carried out.

Described as a site of national significance, the limeworks' origins date back to 1763.

The site sits across the Wales-England border, with the kiln just a few hundred yards over the border in Shropshire and the rest in Powys.

When it opens, the museum will chart the rise of the lime industry in the area, quarrying, production and transportation via canal, tram and railway.

Tony Beardsell, chairman of Llanymynech Heritage Focus Group, said the work was the culmination of 30 years of effort on the parts of individuals and organisations to get the site restored.

The kiln inside is 150ft long by 50ft wide

After tackling conservation issues involving a range of animals from newts to bats to herons, the site is ready for contractors to begin on Wednesday.

He told BBC Wales: "We're extremely pleased it's all happening.

"There have been limeworks here from 10BC to 1914. The whole site is still complete.

"Work is going to be spread over the next two years making a visitors' centre and a display area and putting in a modern kiln so people can come and burn lime for modern building products."

The area is right at the end of Offa's Dyke and Watt's Dyke and attracts tourists and walkers.

However, Mr Beardsell added: "At the end of the day we still want to keep it low key, not turn it into somewhere like Ironbridge.

"It's going to be a balance of conservation and nature, and the kiln and an explanation of what it was."