Location | |
---|---|
Location in Powys | |
Location | near Corris |
County | Powys) |
Country | Wales, United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 52°39′17″N3°51′02″W / 52.6546°N 3.8505°W grid reference SH 74841 07964 |
Production | |
Products | Slate |
Type | Quarry |
History | |
Opened | 1787 |
Active | 1787–1906; 1914–1971 |
Closed | 1971 |
Braichgoch slate mine (often called Braich Goch quarry) was a large slate mine located in Corris Uchaf, north Wales. It operated continuously from 1787 until its closure in 1970 [1] (some[ which? ] sources give 1971), apart from a hiatus in the 1900s. Most of the surface workings of the quarry were removed as part of a road widening and landscaping scheme in 1983.
Part of the underground mine workings are now open to the public as the King Arthur's Labyrinth tourist attraction (a fantasy journey into Arthurian legend taking place on one level of the mine) and the newly launched Corris Mine Explorers. Through the subterranean Corris Mine Explorer expeditions, the working lives of 19th-century Welsh miners can be seen firsthand. Equipment and discarded personal belongings remain untouched as relics of Welsh industry. The landscaped site above ground is also home to the Corris Craft Centre, a retail site from which several craft based shops operate.
Slate quarrying in the Corris district dates back to the 14th century when the Foel Grochan quarry at Aberllefenni is believed to have first been worked.
In 1787, David Williams leased the quarrying and mineral rights at Gaewern and Braich Goch from John Edwards, representing the Vane Estate. It is not certain when quarrying began on this land, but certainly slate extraction had started by 1812. The early mining took place at Gaewern, the northern of the two quarry areas, under the auspices of the Merionethshire Slate Company.
It was not until 1836 that quarrying began at Braich Goch proper, under the name of the North Wales Slate & Slab Company. By 1838, the lease, still from (now) Sir John Edwards, was expanded. In 1840 an incline was constructed to ease the movement of slate within the quarry. In 1843, the company surrendered the lease to Arthur Causton a civil engineer. He obtained a new lease directly from the Vanes Estate, thus removing the subleasing arrangement with John Edwards.
Meanwhile, the neighbouring Gaewern quarry was struggling and in 1848, the Merionethshire Slate Company was dissolved after the discovery of serious financial mismanagement. In 1853, the property was taken over by a company known as Alltgoed Consolls, and they restarted quarrying at Gaewern.
In 1851, new partners were brought into the North Wales Slate & Slab Company, which was reformed under the name Braich Goch Slate and Slab Company. However, an attempted flotation of the company failed to attract enough investors and as a result, the partners were brought out by John Rowlands, who owned Gaewern and Ratgoed quarries. At this time Braich Goch quarry included two waterwheels, six planning machines, nine sawing engines, 2 miles (3.2 km) of tramways and inclined planes, and six hand sawing machines, amongst other equipment.
By 1856, shareholders in the Alltgoed Consols were increasingly discontented due to the lack of profits from the three quarries.
In 1859, the Corris Tramroad opened, connecting the Corris district with Machynlleth and the River Dyfi beyond. The Birley family saw the opportunity of this new transportation route for improving the profitability of the local quarries and purchased the lease for Braich Goch from Rowlands, forming Braich Goch Slate Quarry Ltd. Rowlands continued with Gaewern, though without financial success and in 1868 sold it to the Talyllyn Slate Company. By that same year, employment at Braich Goch had grown to over 200 men. [2]
In 1880, Braichgoch took over Gaewern quarry, and the two were worked as a single operation. By the mid-1890s over 6,000 tons of finished slate were being produced and over 350 workers were employed. Braichgoch was the largest slate quarry south of Blaenau Ffestiniog. [3]
The downturn in demand for slate in the late 1890s led to Braichgoch closing in 1906. It was revived after the First World War and continued working sporadically until its final closure in 1971. [3]
By the mid-1840s, Braich Goch quarry maintained a wharf at Morben, with slate being shipped by horse cart. In 1859, the Corris Machynlleth & River Dovey Tramroad opened, connecting the slate quarries at Aberllefenni and Corris to river wharfs at Derwenlas and Morben. The Upper Corris Tramway branch of the tramroad served Braich Goch and the quarry leased a wharf at Cei Ward until 1869, when it opened a new transshipment wharf at Machynlleth where slate was loaded onto Cambrian Railways wagons. [4]
The tramroad later became the Corris Railway, and it shipped the majority of the quarry's products until 1927.
The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales.
Pennal is a village and community on the A493 road in southern Gwynedd, Wales, on the north bank of the River Dyfi, near Machynlleth.
Aberllefenni quarry is the collective name of three slate quarries, Foel Grochan, Hen Gloddfa and Ceunant Ddu, located in Cwm Hengae, just to the west of Aberllefenni, Gwynedd, North Wales. It was the longest continually operated slate mine in the world until its closure in 2003. Foel Grochan is the quarry on the north side of the valley, facing Ceunant Ddu and Hen Gloddfa on the south; all three were worked as a single concern throughout their history. Rock was mainly extracted underground, though all three quarries had open pits as well.
Ratgoed quarry was the northernmost of the slate quarries served by the Corris Railway. It is one mile north of Aberllefenni in Gwynedd, Mid Wales, on the western side of Mynydd Llwydiarth. The quarry primarily worked the Narrow Vein, though it also produced some Broad Vein slates.
The Abercorris quarry was a slate quarry worked between the mid-1840s and the early 1950s. It was located at Corris Uchaf about 5 miles north of Machynlleth, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The quarry was connected to the Corris Railway via the Upper Corris Tramway which carried its products to the Cambrian Railways at Machynlleth for distribution. It worked the Narrow Vein.
Derwenlas is a hamlet in northern Powys, Wales. It is part of the community of Cadfarch.
Morben is a hamlet in northern Powys, Wales. Part of the historic county of Montgomeryshire from 1536 to 1974, it lies on the Afon Dyfi and was once the home of a number of riverside quays, including Cei Ward and Y Bwtri. The site of Cei Ward lies alongside the A487 opposite Plas Llugwy, where the road, railway and river run close together. Y Bwtri lay on the bend of the river opposite Pennal and was the site of a shipyard.
Corris is a station on the Corris Railway in Merioneth, Wales. It was built in 1859 when the railway was first opened as the Corris, Machynlleth and River Dovey Tramroad and was briefly the northern terminus of the line. It closed to passengers in 1931, and to all traffic in 1948.
Corris Craft Centre is a craft and leisure complex in Corris, on the A487 near Machynlleth, mid-Wales. It is sometimes referred to as King Arthur's Labyrinth, one of the attractions on the site. Celebrating 40 years in 2022.
The Ratgoed Tramway was a 2 ft 3 in gauge horse-worked tramway that connected the remote Ratgoed Quarry with the Corris Railway at Aberllefenni. It was 1.75 miles (2.82 km) long.
Cymerau quarry was a slate quarry served by the Ratgoed Tramway, a horse-worked section of the Corris Railway. It is located about half a mile north of Aberllefenni in Merioneth, North Wales, on the eastern side of the isolated Cwm Ceiswyn. It worked the Narrow Vein, the highest-quality slate vein in the Abercorris Group.
The Upper Corris Tramway was a 2 ft 3 in gauge horse-worked tramway that connected the slate quarries around the villages of Corris and Corris Uchaf with the Corris Railway at Maespoeth Junction. It was just over 1.8 miles (2.9 km) long.
The Abercwmeiddaw quarry was a slate quarry that operated between the 1840s and 1938. It was located at Corris Uchaf about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Machynlleth, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The quarry was connected to the Corris Railway via the Upper Corris Tramway which carried its products to the Cambrian Railways at Machynlleth for distribution.
The Llwyngwern quarry was a slate quarry in Wales that opened by 1828 and continued working until about 1950. The quarry is located on the western flank of Mynydd Llwyn-gwern.
Cambergi quarry was a slate quarry in Cwm Hengae, west of Aberllefenni in North Wales. It operated between 1873 and about 1895.
The Broad Vein Mudstone Formation is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group in Mid Wales. The rock of the formation is silty mudstone, intensely bioturbated in places. It varies in colour from a pale to a medium blue. This formation has been commercially quarried as slate in several locations along its length. The formation is between 400 metres (1,300 ft) and 560 metres (1,840 ft) thick and runs from Dinas Mawddwy south-west to Cardigan Bay at Tywyn.
The Narrow Vein Mudstone Formation is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group in Mid Wales. The rock of the formation is silty, homogeneous or finely-laminated mudstone. It generally a medium blue colour. This formation has been commercially quarried as slate in several locations along its length. The formation is between 400 metres (1,300 ft) and 560 metres (1,840 ft) thick and runs from Dinas Mawddwy south-west to Cardigan Bay at Tywyn.
The Cwm Ebol quarry was a slate quarry about 1 mile (1.6 km) north west of the village of Pennal in Mid Wales. It operated from about 1860 to about 1906. It was the last Welsh slate quarry connected only to a trans-shipment point instead of directly to a railway.
The Deeside and Moelfferna quarries were neighbouring slate quarries, near Glyndyfrdwy in North Wales. They were both operated by the same company throughout their history, and were both connected by the Deeside Tramway to the Llangollen and Corwen Railway.
Machynlleth was a station on the Corris Railway in Merioneth, Wales. It was opened in 1863 as a pair of wharves for the transshipment of slate onto the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway. In 1878, it was opened to passenger traffic, replacing the earlier Machynlleth Town, and was adjacent to the standard gauge station of the same name. It closed to passengers in 1931, and to all traffic in 1948.