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Great Orme Copper Mine; Ty Gwyn Copper Mine

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NPRN33779
Map ReferenceSH78SE
Grid ReferenceSH7707683100
Unitary (Local) AuthorityConwy
Old CountyCaernarfonshire
CommunityLlandudno
Type Of SiteCOPPER MINE
PeriodMultiperiod
Description
The Great Orme Copper Mines above Llandudno have an extensive complex of surface and underground workings exploiting copper ores in soft, easily worked strata. The true extent of mining operations here is unknown but it is believed to exceed 24,000 square metres, incorporating passages totalling more than five kilometres and penetrating a depth of seventy metres.

Archaeological evidence from the fill of the galleries include well-preserved bone tools and broken hammer stones. Charcoal was also found and radio-carbon dates from it have led to suggestions of Bronze Age beginnings for mining at this location. Spoil dumps and capped shafts are visible, dating from the nineteenth century.

D.K.Leighton, RCAHMW, 7 September 2004 (edited 14 November 2011).