Aberglaslyn Copper Mine

Overview

A small copper mine in the Aberglaslyn pass below Beddgelert, worked from about 1769 when ore could be loaded onto boats at the tidal Pont Aberglaslyn; Cornish adventurers worked it in 1810 and it closed under J. W. Greaves.

History

The Aberglaslyn copper mine climbs the hillside behind the houses at Pont Aberglaslyn, in the gorge of the Afon Glaslyn south of Beddgelert, where a series of stempled stopes runs up the slope. In 1769 John Griffiths of Porthmadog was urging Lord Powys to invest in it, and about 1770 it was worked by Sir Watkin Williams. At that time there was no road through the pass and the Glaslyn was tidal up to Pont Aberglaslyn, so boats could load ore almost directly from the mine; the building of the Cob at Porthmadog in 1811 ended this.

In 1810 Richard Fenton saw an adit being worked energetically by Cornish adventurers, and a stamping mill was put up afterwards. Only 56 tons of ore were sold at Swansea between 1804 and 1847, and after 1847 the mine worked only sporadically, as copper prices allowed. In the middle of the century J. W. Greaves employed 25 men there, and a mining engineer's report of 1907 records that it closed while in his hands, judging the site favourable and the earlier working primitive. Below the mine, the blocked adit of Lefel Goch is marked on the road by red water stains.

Geology

A copper lode followed for a few hundred yards up the hillside.

Workings

Stempled stopes, shafts, opencuts and adits extending up the hillside from the riverside, including a deep opencut stope followed for a few hundred yards, a deep adit near the houses, and the lower drainage adit of Lefel Goch.

Closure

Worked only sporadically after 1847; closed while held by J. W. Greaves, with the loss of 25 jobs.

What remains

The site is in thick woodland; ruined mine offices, a fenced shaft and the stopes remain, and the waterwheel pit and stamps area are thought lost to forestry. Lefel Goch is blocked.

Ruined mine offices, a fenced shaft, opencuts and stopes, and the blocked entrance of Lefel Goch by the road.

Redevelopment

Woodland and private gardens.

Related mines

• Bryn y Felin Copper Mine — Copper mines on either side of the Aberglaslyn pass.
• Cwm Bychan Copper Mine — Beddgelert copper mines either side of the Afon Glaslyn.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• About 1770 the Aberglaslyn mine was worked by Sir Watkin Williams. ¹
• In 1769 John Griffiths of Porthmadog urged Lord Powys to invest in the Aberglaslyn mine. ²
• In 1810 the mine was being worked by Cornish adventurers. ^1,2
• Between 1804 and 1847 only 56 tons of Aberglaslyn ore were sold at Swansea. ^1,2
• In the middle of the nineteenth century J. W. Greaves employed 25 men at the mine. ^1,2
• Lefel Goch, an old adit by the road, was beyond living memory in 1907 and was probably blocked when the road was built in the early 1800s. ³

Sources

1. (secondary) Aberglaslyn (Buddlepit Mine Database) — Buddlepit Mine Database
2. (observational) Aberglaslyn Mine (Easter 2019) — Treasure Maps (Iain Robinson)
3. (secondary) Level Goch, Mine Entrance (NPRN 414989) — Coflein (RCAHMW)

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026