23688

 

II  

Designated  

21/07/2000  

21/07/2000  

North-eastern aerial ropeway revetment, incline and associated buildings  

 

Gwynedd  

Llanllyfni  

 

Nantlle  

250117  

353236  

 

Located above the east side of the North Dorothea Slate Quarry between Pen-y-Bryn to the north-east and the ruins of the former slate mill to the south-east.  

Industrial  

 

The Dorothea Quarry in the centre of the Nantlle Vale was opened in 1829 by William Turner and John Morgan. From 1853 until its closure in 1970 the quarry was owned by the Williams family. The reveted structure and incline are shown on an Ordnance Survey map of 1889. The purpose of the revetment was to house engines which drove chain or cable inclines at an angle of about 45 degrees, enabling quarry wagons to be pulled up and let down using further cables.  

Large ziggurat-like structure of sawn slate blocks, aligned roughly east-west. The sides are strongly battered with offsets on the north face; remains of slate-built structures on top at south end. Projecting from the south end, in a north-westerly direction, is a slate-built inclined plane with the remains of a winding house at its head.  

 

Included as one of a pair of large and unique aerial ropeway revetments, impressive for the scale of their engineering and having strong group value with the Cornish beam engine house at this important C19 slate quarry. Scheduled Ancient Monument (No.199).