Prince of Wales Quarry, Cwm Pennant
Prince of Wales quarry was opened in 1873 and proved to be a wildly optimistic development, closing by 1886. The quarry is situated at the end of the minor road up Cwm Pennant. Ironically the tramway to Prince of Wales was an extension of a defunct one which lead to Gorseddau quarry - another equally hopeless venture. For more information on the tramway which lead to these quarries Ben Fisher's site is recommended. Prince of Wales quarry today contains many old buildings and structures amidst wonderful scenery and is well worth a visit.
Image reproduced with permission of
Ordnance Survey.
The
trackbed of the grandly named Gorseddau Junction & Portmadoc Railway
which
led to Prince of Wales quarry. The quarry can be seen in the right
background.
Ruins
of the mill at the quarry, this only dealt with slabs, all roofing slate
being cut and dressed
on
the working levels. The mill was powered by a water wheel and the
pillars which
carried
the water supply are seen on the left.
A
view of the dam which is of the standard pattern of two outside walls
and an inner
void
that would have been filled with clay. A start had been made on increasing
the
height
of this dam - note the higher wall on the far side.
This
is the lake formed by the dam in the photo above. The quarry is in
the background.
The
water was channelled from here to the dressing shed lower down.
Here
is a view of the top of the incline which raises the tramway from the mill.
A level
stretch
follows before reaching the main quarry incline in the background.
The
2 foot gauge tramway in the quarry was partly laid on waste rock drilled
to hold the chairs.
The
chairs held the rails and the holes for four chairs are seen here.
In this view are seen some of the ruins on the site. On the left
are the barrack blocks for the quarrymen. The structures on the right
are known as waliau. They were open at one end and had a sloping
roof, one or two quarrymen would work in each of these buildings splitting
slates.
A
weighbridge on one of the upper levels of the quarry. The huge slabs
of waste
rock
are a feature of this quarry.
Prince
of Wales contains examples of underground, pit and gallery working.
This is a view from
the
underground adit. Visitors should BEWARE of several deep unfenced
pits at the quarry.
The
sad remnants of the fireplace and cooking range in the ruins of the manager's
house.
Next page: Anglesey Barracks, Dinorwic Quarry