Mines in Conwy
Conwy's mining history is unusually varied for its size. Great Orme, above Llandudno, holds the largest prehistoric copper mine yet discovered anywhere in the world, worked from the Bronze Age using stone hammers and bone tools; Cae Coch, in the hills above Trefriw, is Wales's only sulphur mine, prized enough in wartime that it once supplied over half the UK's entire pyrites output. Between them, the two sites span mining in the region from the earliest prehistoric metalworking to 20th-century wartime industry.
Open the full map for the year filters and disasters.
| Mine | Worked | Commodities |
|---|---|---|
| Cae Coch Sulphur Mine | 1607–1942 | Pyrite |
| Cedryn Quarry | 1827 (first record)–c. 1880 (company dissolved 1885) | Slate |
| Chwarel Ddu Quarry | c. 1800–c. 1929 (after a 1920s revival) | Slate |
| Great Orme Copper Mines | c. 1700 BC–c. 600 BC | Copper, Lead |
| Hafna Mine | to about 1915 | Lead, Zinc, Pyrite |
| Pandora Mine | From around 1868–1931 | Lead, Zinc |
| Parc Mine | 1855–1963 | Lead, Zinc |
| Penmachno Quarry | 1818–1962 | Slate |
| Penmaenmawr Granite Quarry | From 1830s–Still active | Granite |
| Ty'n-y-bryn Quarry | 1840s–1914 (Penllyn via its mill to 1924) | Slate |