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Hafod-Las Slate and Slab Quarry

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NPRN40558
Map ReferenceSH75NE
Grid ReferenceSH7800056170
Unitary (Local) AuthorityConwy
Old CountyCaernarfonshire
CommunityBetws-y-coed
Type Of SiteSLATE QUARRY
Period19th Century
Description
Hafod-las slate and slab quarry is located on the south side of the Llugwy vallay above Pentre-du. It dates from the mid-nineteenth century as a an open quarry which was extensively, and expensively, developed in the last quarter of the century. It was worked on four levels. Unusually, the upper levels were not entirely abandoned as work progressed downwards. The main mill, which used Hunter saws, was on the third level down, blocks from below being raised up to it by means of power conversion of the main incline. This incline lowered finished product to a loading point where it was carted to Trfriw, or latterly nearby Betws-y-coed. The first all corrugated-iron mill seems to have been built here in 1901, and to have measured 64 metres by 15.5 metres (210 feet by 51 feet).
Enamelling was carried out as a sideline to slab production.
In 1883 11 men produced 289 tons and although typical tonnages were greater output is unlikely to have exceeded 1000 tons per annum. By 1898 48 men were employed. The quarry operated on a small scale in the 1920s but closed in the early 1930s.
Surviving remains are extensive. These include the main incline and subsidiary inclines with remains of drumhouses, the main mill (with traces of an earlier mill) and other buildings, tunnel access to quarry from lowest level, forge and workshop, weighhouse, powder house and manager's house.
Sources:
D.Gwyn, Welsh Slate: the Archaeology and History of an Industry (RCAHMW 2015), pp.113, 117 & 124.
A.J.Richards, A Gazeteer of the Welsh Slate Industry (1991), p.73-5.

David Leighton, RCAHMW, 12 February 2015