16869

3  

II  

Designated  

01/02/1996  

01/02/1996  

Quarryman's Cottages  

 

Gwynedd  

Ffestiniog  

 

Gloddfa Ganol Quarry  

269259  

346910  

 

Prominently located on the main Gloddfa Ganol level, backing onto a slate spoil hill and facing NE; set back slightly behind a slate-slab fence and with a slate-flagged forecourt..  

Domestic  

 

c1840 terrace of quarry workers' cottages originally serving Holland's quarry. This was opened in 1827 by Samuel Holland the younger and was also called 'upper quarry.' Originally the terrace would have housed the families probably of foremen or clerks, rather than quarrymen, who typically slept in barrack accommodation during this period. Following the amalgamation of Holland's with Oakely quarry in 1878 the terrace was occupied (until as recently as 1968) by 3 quarry maintenance men and their families, who were required to remain permanently on site. The main workings on this level commenced 1839-40 and it is likely that the terrace relates to this period. At the quarry's peak production period between 1882 and 1889, 534 men were employed in the deepest slate mine in the world, producing a recorded 13,753 tons of slate in 1882.  

 

 

A good representative quarry terrace retaining much of its historic and sociological interest.