Full Report for Listed Buildings
The list description is not intended to be a complete inventory of what is listed: it is principally intended to aid identification. By law, the definition of a listed building includes the entire building (i) and any structure or object that is fixed to the said building and ancillary to it and (ii) any other structure or object that forms part of the land and has done so since before 1 July 1948, and was within the curtilage of the building, and ancillary to it, on the date on which said building was first included in the list, or on 1 January 1969, whichever was later.
Summary Description
Reference Number
17380
Building Number
Grade
II
Status
Designated
Date of Designation
03/10/1996
Date of Amendment
15/08/2024
Name of Property
Dock System at Y Felinheli
Address
Location
Unitary Authority
Gwynedd
Community
Y Felinheli
Town
Y Felinheli
Locality
Port Dinorwic
Easting
252786
Northing
367930
Street Side
Location
Below village of Felinheli, aligned roughly E-W, curving slightly to follow line of natural inlet, the whole system some 500m long.
Description
Broad Class
Maritime
Period
History
Complete dock system with entrance lock, long dock crossed by bascule bridge and graving-dock at upper end, converted from a tidal inlet of Afon Heulyn, previously partially used as a quay. It was designed and supervised by Frank Oswell BA (Associate Member, Institution of Civil Engineers), at a cost of £18,527. Lock-gates and cast-iron bollards by Cleghorn & Wilkinson, Northwich; the bridge was constructed by Pearson & Knowles, based in Warrington. Work began in April 1897 and was completed in December 1900.
Port Dinorwic was successively developed and enlarged from the 1790s by the Assheton-Smith family of Vaynol, owners of the Dinorwic slate quarry, Llanberis. Their quarries produced by late 1890s almost one quarter of the entire output of Welsh slate. The outer end of the system probably incorporates stonework from the quays of the 1820s.
Exterior
Dock system approx 500m long, following line of former natural inlet. At outer (W) end of system is entrance lock in dressed grey stone; 2 lock gates in wood with walkways over having railings consisting of iron posts and chains. Inner dock walls in red brick with massive stone capstones and dressings (some capstones replaced in concrete); ladders set into dock sides. Dock broadens inside lock before narrowing at single-leaf bascule bridge. Steel bridge pivots at S end (modified with an electric drive motor in 1912); sloping parapets become (at S end) semi-circular with teeth which engage with raising mechanism. E of bridge, the dock curves and varies in width, following line of the natural inlet. At inner end of system is dry dock, or graving-dock, sealed by steel caisson. Dry-dock has stepped side-walls and polygonal E end.
Interior
Reason for designation
A remarkable example of a complete dock-system built to service a Welsh industry of world importance.
Cadw : Full Report for Listed Buildings [ Records 1 of 1 ]
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