Manod or Madoc Granite Quarry refers to a large twentieth-century quarry that closed c.1972. The quarry was served by a siding off the Bala to Blaenau Ffestiniog branch of the Great Western Railway. Although it was known as a granite quarry, it was in fact worked for dolerite which was used in road building. Quarrying on the west flank of Manod Bach had begun in the late nineteenth century. One small quarry (NPRN 537401) is clearly of that date as it is marked on the 1891 and 1901 OS maps. Other small nearby workings (537395, 537397, 537398, 537404) are probably also of this date. The scale of exploitation vastly increased in the twentieth century, with a main quarry (415616) and two smaller subsidiary quarries (537383, 536392). Associated with these twentieth-century works are well-preserved inclines (536384, 537410), one with winding house (537382), and other fragmentary structures (537394, 537408, 537413). The site appears to have been largely cleared after closure, but there is one surviving spoil tip (537414) and twentieth-century tracks (537394, 537408, 537413).
Recorded as part of RCAHMW Uplands Initiative Project, R Hayman, H & H, 16/03/2014.