Site of older copper trial. Quarry and incline.***
The general layout comprises two major pits: a dry pit featuring elaborate walling and a cantilevered slab stairway, and a wet pit connected via tunnel to the working area. The pits are linked part-way down by a cutting and at the bottom by a tunnel that is now blocked. Evidence of an earlier copper-mining gallery survives in the dry pit. The upper area contains remains of a water-wheel powered chain incline, with iron fixing bolts visible where the launder fed the wheel, along with a slate-lined tailrace leading toward the mill and weigh house area. A leat crosses the field and feeds water to the pits. In the lower area, remains of the tipped-over original incline can be found alongside a later reservoir. A stone-lined leat passes between pillars of the incline drumhouse to reach the lower mill, while launder pillars lead to the site of the overshot wheel that served the later mill, the building of which has since been reused. Remains of a small undershot wheel in the river are probably agricultural in origin.
Two disused water turbines are present on site: one fed by the diverted water-wheel leat and another supplied by an iron pipe. A third, modern generator fed by plastic piping remains in use. Surface features include a water-wheel pit visible in the current farmyard, with two surviving slate launder pillars, and a drumhouse situated at the top of the hill. Further up on the moorland lie two large pits to the left and a powder house to the right. A leat flows into the first upper pit, and the wheel pit overlooks the second pit, suggesting a possible earlier arrangement whereby water from the first pit was conveyed to a wheel positioned at the second pit. Multiple adits at different levels can be found below the rubbish runs, serving both main pits as access features to the workings.
The quarry was developed during the 1860s on a site that had seen earlier slate workings and copper trials. Working methods evolved over time, beginning with initial cutting before progressing to tunnel access and haulage to an adjacent mill. Finished slate was transported down to the valley floor by means of an incline, but high cartage costs contributed to an early closure of operations. The quarry was re-opened in the early 1870s when a new lower tunnel was driven, providing improved access and drainage to the workings. During its operational period, the quarry employed about thirty men and produced approximately six hundred tons of slate per year. Final closure came around 1880, though sporadic working continued into the 1930s. In the post-quarry era, water turbines were installed for electricity generation, with one reportedly sourced from Hendre Ddu. Ancillary features associated with the site include a reservoir, a powder house, and at least one earlier building that predates the quarrying activity.
Publications (2)
- (1988); WMS Newsletter Issue 18 May; 12 pages
- Richards, Alun John (1991); Gazeteer of the Welsh Slate Industry, A; Gwasg Carreg Gwalch 978-0863811968













