Cedryn Quarry

Overview

A small, remote slate quarry in Cwm Eigiau above Dolgarrog, first recorded in 1827, with a water-powered mill across the valley and, from the 1860s, a five-mile tramway to the Conwy. Its slate proved poor: the quarry closed about 1880 and its company was dissolved in 1885.

History

Cedryn quarry lies high in Cwm Eigiau, in the hills west of Dolgarrog, and is first recorded in 1827. Its hillside, and possibly underground, workings were joined by an inclined tramway and a bridge to a water-powered mill on the far side of the valley, with a wheelpit and a small reservoir beside it. At first the slate went by horse pack to quays on the Conwy at Dolgarrog, or by cart to Tal-y-cafn. A tramway of about 2-foot gauge, laid with wrought-iron T-section rails, was built down the valley in the early 1860s: 1861-63 by one account, 1863-64 by Coflein. It ran about five miles, past the site of the later Eigiau reservoir, and reached the Conwy at Dolgarrog by a three-pitch balanced incline and a small wooden jetty. Before 1866 it was extended a mile to Cwm Eigiau quarry.

The Caedryn Slate Quarry Company of 1863 became in 1874 the Caedryn and Cwm Eigiau Slate Company, which was dissolved eleven years later because the slate was of poor quality; Coflein puts the closure of the quarry at about 1880. By 1907, when the route was used for a new tramway to build the dam at Llyn Eigiau, all the rails had been taken up. Little was left at the quarry by 1991: the incline and its collapsed drumhouse, the embankment across to the mill, and the ruined mill with its wheelpit and reservoir.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

Hillside and possibly underground workings; an inclined tramway and bridge to a water-powered mill with horizontal and/or Hunter saws across the valley; a tramway of about 2-foot gauge to the Conwy at Dolgarrog from the 1860s, with a three-pitch balanced incline and a wooden jetty.

Closure

Closed about 1880; the Caedryn and Cwm Eigiau Slate Company was dissolved in 1885, the slate being of poor quality.

What remains

In 1991: the incline with a collapsed drumhouse, the embankment to the mill, and the ruined mill with its wheelpit and small reservoir; ruined slate-block enclosures stand nearby.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Cwm Eigiau Quarry — Joined by the same tramway from the 1860s and worked by one company from 1874.

Recorded claims

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

• Cedryn quarry is first recorded in 1827. ¹
• A tramway of about five miles to the Conwy at Dolgarrog was built in the early 1860s and extended to Cwm Eigiau quarry before 1866. ^1,2
• The Caedryn Slate Quarry Company of 1863 became the Caedryn and Cwm Eigiau Slate Company in 1874, dissolved eleven years later because the slate was poor. ¹
• The quarry closed in about 1880. ²
• In 1991 the incline, a collapsed drumhouse, the mill embankment and the ruined mill with its wheelpit and reservoir remained. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Cedryn Quarry Tramway — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Cedryn Slate Quarry (NPRN 400572) — Coflein (RCAHMW)

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026