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Wales National Slate Museum, Llanberis, North Wales

The rapid development of towns during the Industrial Revolution led to to an enormous demand for slate for roofs of houses and factories. Welsh Slate was highly prized as the best as it was very durable and split easily. The National Slate Museum on the site of the workshops of the mighty Dinorwic quarry in Llanberis gives a wonderful insight into the industry and the lives of those who worked in it.

Commercial quarrying began at Dinorwic in the early C19th and by the end of the century, employed over 3000 men producing 1700 tons of slate a week. Slate was brought down to workshops built on flat land at the head of Llyn Padarn, created by tipping of slate waste.

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Over 100 men worked there. As well as splitting and trimming slate, the workshops also carried out all the repair and maintenance work demanded by a quarry, with blacksmiths forge, pattern making loft, foundry to produce machinery parts and tools, steam locomotive workshops and even a saw mill to cut timber beams.

Today the complex is virtually unchanged since work stopped in 1969.

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The workshops were built as a square around a central courtyard, with the waterwheel house behind. Above the main entrance is the clock, which was probably installed around the mid 1890s. This acted as a timekeeper for the workshops, trains taking slate to Port Dinorwic, and controlled blasting times at the quarry face. It was also the timekeeper for the local community with a bell that could be heard by everyone living in Llanberis. The living quarters of the Chief Engineer were on one side of the main gateway, indicating his status and importance.

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The workshops were powered by water brought down in cast iron pipes from the slopes of Snowdon. The waterwheel was constructed in 1870 by de Winton of Caernarfon and with a diameter of just over 50’ and was the largest working waterwheel in mainland Britain. It was sited in a brick casing and reached by an external stair. A turning axle run through the workshops with belt drives off it. It was used until 1925 when the iron work was beginning to show signs of fatigue. A smaller and more efficient Pelton wheel replaced it.

Quarrying was a very dangerous occupation and there was a high accident rate with broken bones, lost fingers, crush injuries and even death. A hospital with a small mortuary building was built in 1860, on the hillside above Llyn Padarn and a short distance from the workshops. It was largely maintained by the men's own contributions to a Sick Club. The club provided free medical care, a weekly payment during absence from work through sickness or injury, a small payment on retirement and burial expenses. It had its own operating theatre for procedures such as amputation and was one of the first hospitals in Britain to have an X-ray machine. Having a hospital close to the quarry allowed workers to get back to work with minimal delay after receiving treatment.

General surgery was carried out here until the 1940s when it was downgraded to a first aid centre and was finally closed in 1962.

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When the quarries closed in 1969, the workshops were left abandoned with much of the original equipment and tools. The site was opened as a museum a few years later, with examples of cranes and wagons in the courtyard.

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Una in the loco shed, is a narrow gauge steam locomotive built in 1905 by the Hunslet Engine Company for the nearby Pen Yr Orsedd quarry and is similar to locos used at Dinorwic.

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The original waterwheel (which is almost too big to photograph) has been restored and is still turning.

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The quarry hospital has been reopened as part of the museum and a ward and operating theatre have been restored to their late C19th state. The x ray machine is still there.

One of the rooms in the courtyard has been set up as a caban, where the men gathered to eat and socialise. It is sparsely furnished with trestle tables and benches. There was a strict hierarchy and apprentices sitting further from the fire.

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The small terrace of quarryman’s houses near the waterwheel were brought here from Tanygrisiau and show living conditions from the mid C19th to when the quarries closed.

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This is a fascinating museum. I first visited a few years after it opened and was impressed. Thirty years on, it is as good as ever. There are information boards around the site as well as videos to watch and lots of old photographs. There is a demonstration of slate splitting. For anyone who has not seen this, it is fascinating how easily the slate splits and how thinly.

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Best of all, it is free! it is open 10-5 from Easter- October. November to Easter it is open 10-4 but closed on Saturdays. Check opening times for the Quarry Hospital at the Museum as it was only open weekend afternoons in October... There doesn’t seem to be any times on on the web either.

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Website
 
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C19th photographs of work in the slate quarries

One of the rooms in the National Slate Museum has a wonderful collection of black and white photographs showing slate quarrying in the C19th. These illustrate just how dangerous quarrying was with men working on the sheer quarry face with just a rope to secure them.

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Massive slabs of slate were manhandled on very basic wagons with no thought of health and safety, to the workshops, where they were split and trimmed to size.

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Slate waste was taken by wagon to be tipped.

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The finished slates were then taken by wagon along the Padarn Railway to the wharves at Port Dinorwic for transport by sea.

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There is one wonderful photograph showing how men used a basic trolley (car gwyllt) to descend the inclines after work, rather than walking down the paths. Taking four minutes, this must have been a scary ride.

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Foundry, pattern loft and saw mill

The foundry at the far end of the square facing the entrance, was the heart of the workshop. All the metal parts were cast here, from fly wheels to parts for machinery and even metal window frames. The furnace had a very tall chimney to increase the draft ensuring sufficiently high temperatures for melting the iron. The crane and jib swung the cupola round to fill the moulds.

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Wooden patterns were carved in the pattern loft to make the moulds for the different parts. The wood patterns were placed in mould boxes on the foundry floor and then tightly packed with special moulding sand to make the shape for casting. The pattern was carefully removed and molten metal is poured into the space left. It was left overnight to cool and the mould was split open and the sand removed. The metal casting was then sent to the workshops for finishing.

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Next to the foundry are the saw mills, with saws powered by the massive waterwheel. Large tree trunks could be turned into planks for railway sleepers, blast shelters, carts and wagons.

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Slate craft workshop, Blacksmith’s forge, machine shop and offices.

The workshops take up one side of the museum. There would originally have been two smithies here. One housed six forges and the other had four and was where the apprentices learnt their craft. They began by making their own tools. There were smaller smithies at the quarries which sharpened tools and drills used by the workers.

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The larger of the two smithies has now been set up as a slate workshop with machinery used in cutting and dressing the slate.

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Beyond are the machine shops with examples of the different machines needed. These were all powered from a driving axil and belts from the waterwheel.

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At the far end, next to the main entrance are the stores and clerk’s office.

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Fron Haul - Quarrymen’s Houses

There was a housing boom in the slate quarrying areas of North Wales in the C19th when terraces of stone houses were built to accommodate the families of the increasing number of men employed in the slate quarries. A small terrace from Tanygrisiau has been rebuilt at the museum and the four houses have been furnished to reflect social conditions at different times.

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The 1861 House

The end house is furnished as it might have been in 1861. The slate industry was at its height and, although working conditions might not have been good, the men were paid good wages. The single downstairs room had an open fire which provided heat and hot water as well as being used for all cooking. It is well furnished with a grandfather clock (a sign of wealth) and dresser with a display of china as well as the large family bible. The floor is paved with slate slabs. Candles were the main source of light and there was no water supply to the house.

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A wooden staircase lead to a bedroom with bare wooden floor boards and bare plaster walls. This was used by the whole family, with children sleeping on a straw mattress on the floor. The only concession to privacy was a blanket draped from the ceiling.

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The 1901 House

This is furnished at the time of the Penrhyn Lockout in 1901 when money was scarce. The floor is still paved with slate slabs, but the open fire had been replaced by a cast iron range with an oven. Gas lights niow replace candles.

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The back of the room had been partitioned to form a small scullery with slate slab to keep food cool and a sink, although this still didn’t have running water.

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The upstairs has now been divided into two small bedrooms. Walls are still plaster but are painted and there is a small peg rug on the floor. The parents slept at the front along with the baby in a crib. This had a small fireplace. At the back was a smaller bedroom, just large enough for a single bed and table for an enamel bowl for washing. A stone hot water bottle helped warm the bed before use.

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The 1969 house

This house is furnished from 1969, when quarrying was in decline. The cast iron range has been replaced by a fireplace with and has a large leather suite round it, which didn’t leave much room for other furniture, apart from a gramaphone. There is also a tiny TV set. The floor is now carpeted and the bare slate wall has been turned into a feature wall. There is a kitchen area with cooker and sink with a hot water heater above it.

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The main bedroom now has a dressing table and teasmade. The wall is covered with patterned wallpaper and there is a carpet.

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The smaller bedroom is furnished for a teenager complete with record player and has with painted walls.

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The last house is an interactive learning facility and has a video telling the story of the different houses.
 
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Vivian Quarry Incline

Inclines are a distinctive feature of the Welsh Quarrying industry and were used to carry slate from the quarries down the sides of the mountain to the workshops and railway below.
The weight of the loaded slate wagons descending by gravity pulled up the empty wagons.

Large scale quarrying began at Dinorwic in the C19th and the remains of the quarries and massive waste tips can still be seen as scars on the mountainsides. The Vivian Quarry is a tall series of open pits on the side of the hill above the museum and was named after W W Vivian who was one of the Dinorwic Company managers. It was worked until 1917 when it closed, only to be reopened in 1935 until finally closing in 1960.

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The slate veins slope downwards and the quarry was worked on the gallery system.

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All quarrying work was done by hand by men suspended by ropes setting gunpowder charges to blast out the slate.

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The different galleries could be up to 18feet deep. As the workings grew, new galleries were gradually opened higher up the hillside. The lower galleries were left and gradually filled up with water.

Inclines connected the different levels. Each one had a small winding house with a big drum.
Metal cables were connected to the wagons and a brake controlled the speed of the descending wagons. Once at the bottom the slate wagons were then taken to the workshops.

The lowest incline for the Vivian quarry was restored in 1998 and is the only incline of its kind in working order in the UK.

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The incline had two tracks with a transfer table on each which were connected by a wire cable. Loaded slate trucks were pushed along tramways on the quarry workings and onto the transfer table. The weight of the loaded transfer table going down pulled the empties back up. Once the transfer table with the loaded trucks had reached the bottom the wagons were pushed to the workshop and replaced by two empty wagons for the return trip back up.

There is a trail taking walkers up through the different levels to the top of the quarry. If time allows this is a fascinating walk looking at the industrial archaeology of a once very important industry.

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There are more pictures her and a video of the incline working
 
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