Gallt y Fedw


Slate Quarry
Worked from mid 19C to c1930

Jan 1st, 2024 from GWSI by Buddle-Bot

Nov 18th, 2025 by BertyBasset



North Wales
Talysarn
53.0576134, -4.2411394
SH 4990 5350
Private Land
130m
#1,302


The site is compact and intensively worked, retaining several buildings including a small mill. One structure displays the distinctive coloured patterned slate roofing characteristic of the district. Incline formations survive across the site, along with at least one engine house that served the powered inclines. Possible launder pillars suggest water power was also employed. Additional features include a well-built privy structure and a shallow, stone-lined pit approximately thirty meters in diameter, the purpose of which remains unclear. Large retaining walls still stand but are in poor condition.**



These open pit workings developed during the mid-nineteenth century on a site with earlier excavations. Steam-powered inclines lifted material to a mill equipped with six saw tables, though some saws may have operated in the open air. Finished slate descended via an incline that crossed and then merged with the Nantlle Railway. A waste chute bridged the easterly Cilgwyn incline to dispose of rubbish. Output remained modest at only a few hundred tons annually, with a workforce of around twelve men. Some quarrying activity persisted until 1930.


Publications (2)

  • (2002); WMS Newsletter Issue 47 Oct; 28 pages
  • Richards, Alun John (1991); Gazeteer of the Welsh Slate Industry, A; Gwasg Carreg Gwalch 978-0863811968





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