Hendre Ddu


Slate Quarry
Worked from early 19C to 1898

Jan 1st, 2024 from GWSI by Buddle-Bot

Nov 18th, 2025 by BertyBasset



Hendre Ddu Slate Quarry
North Wales
Dolbenmaen
52.9766731, -4.2084932
SH 5181 4443
Private Land
200m
#1,441


Pit and tunnels. Powder House.***

The highest level features barracks with tall windows, dressing sheds, and a weighbridge, along with several short investigative tunnels and trial workings. The lower levels retain vestiges of a mill and weighbridge, while the incline has several adits in fair condition and a small reservoir alongside. Only the foundations of the roadside mill remain. The old access track contains a well-preserved powder house.



This early 19th-century quarry was developed in the 1860s with the addition of a steam mill and an incline to the road. It employed over 60 men but produced annual tonnage of less than 1000, leading to its failure. A restart occurred in 1872 with a turbine-powered wooden mill constructed at the foot of the incline, where tracks from adits connected to the pit. The 1875 collapse of the reservoir dam severely impacted operations, which limped on until around 1880. Another attempted restart in 1898 failed, and a planned rail link to Criccieth was never built.


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


Hendre Ddu Slate QuarryHendre Ddu Slate QuarryHendre Ddu Slate QuarryCollapsed levelPitPitPit



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