Tymawr East Quarry

Overview

A Nantlle Valley slate quarry between Nantlle and Talysarn, worked as an open pit and hillside working from around 1860 to about 1910, one of a paired East and West quarry of the same name.

History

Tymawr East (Ty Mawr East) Slate Quarry, an open pit and hillside working on the south side of the road between the villages of Nantlle and Talysarn, opened around 1860 and closed around 1910. It was one of a paired East and West working of the same name, reflecting the common Nantlle Valley pattern of small, independently-run quarries -- the valley as a whole had at least 37 operating quarries at one time, working a long belt of Cambrian slate that also fed the far larger operations at Dorothea and elsewhere in the valley.

Workings

Worked as an open pit and hillside quarry.

Closure

Closed around 1910.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Ty Mawr East Slate Quarry, on the south side of the road between Nantlle and Talysarn, opened around 1860 and closed around 1910. ¹
• The Nantlle Valley had at least 37 operating slate quarries at one time, working a long belt of Cambrian slate, of which Tymawr East -- one of a paired East and West working -- was one of the smaller, independently-run examples. ²

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (primary) Ty Mawr East Slate Quarry — Coflein (RCAHMW)
2. (secondary) Slate industry in the Nantlle Valley — Wikipedia

Record created: 30 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026