History in Structure

Slate Dressing Mill (Australia Mill)

A Grade II Listed Building in Llanddeiniolen, Gwynedd

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Coordinates

Latitude: 53.1218 / 53°7'18"N

Longitude: -4.0936 / 4°5'36"W

OS Eastings: 259995

OS Northings: 360334

OS Grid: SH599603

Mapcode National: GBR 5R.7831

Mapcode Global: WH54N.2SYN

Plus Code: 9C5Q4WC4+PH

Entry Name: Slate Dressing Mill (Australia Mill)

Listing Date: 4 November 1999

Last Amended: 4 November 1999

Grade: II

Source: Cadw

Source ID: 22655

Building Class: Industrial

ID on this website: 300022655

Location: Spectacularly situated towards the top of the south-eastern (Braich) side of the former Dinorwic Slate Quarry.

County: Gwynedd

Town: Caernarfon

Community: Llanddeiniolen

Community: Llanddeiniolen

Locality: Dinorwic Slate Quarry

Traditional County: Caernarfonshire

Tagged with: Mill

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Llanberis

History

The Dinorwic Quarry was first established in 1787, taking over existing workings in the area, the first incline being built in 1789. By the 1830s there was a tramway system on each terrace of the quarry, steam locomotives being introduced in the 1870s. The eventual scale of the quarry was such that its output of c100,000 tons p.a. in the late 1890s put in on a par with Penrhyn, representing almost a quarter of the total production of Welsh slate. The quarry finally closed in 1969. The mill was built in the late C19 and was originally steam-powered, being converted to electricity after alternating current was introduced from Cwn Dyli power station in 1905. Despite being used right up to closure, the mill had no trimming machinery, all trimming continuing to be done by hand.

Exterior

Regularly coursed rubblestone and slate slab construction; gable-ended slate roof with slates stripped off at time of Survey. Very long rectangular plan with 2 gabled projections on north-eastern long wall; corresponding south-western side has full-length very shallow-pitched lean-to with pedestrian doorways at regular intervals, no windows. Main entrance carrying railway track is at north-western end with louvred window to apex of gable.

Interior

Multi-trussed cast-iron tie beam and raking strut structure to main building with massive iron girders supporting 3-purlin roof structure in lean-to. Main building retains its 36 saw tables virtually intact carrying Ingersoll Rand plates apparently of Turner pattern with railway track running alongside. Regularly spaced open doorways in long south-western wall give access to lean-to with its slate slab bins.

Reasons for Listing

Included, notwithstanding loss of its slate roof covering, as a well-preserved slate dressing mill forming an integral part of the former Dinorwic Slate Quarry complex, particularly notable for the fact that despite being used right up to closure in 1969 it had no trimming machinery, the building therefore providing a remarkably good example of a C19 slate dressing mill.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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Other nearby listed buildings

  • II Bron Elidir including surrounding wall and steps to Dinorwic Slate Quarry
    Located in remote position at the end of a track running off the main track/road leading down from Dinorwic towards Llanberis; a curved flight of slate steps with retaining walls rises from the track
  • II Quarryworkers' Barracks
    Spectacularly and now remotely located off the 'A' Incline of the Dinorwic Slate Quarry just north of the point where it turns abruptly to the north-east; the path between the 2 rows of barracks runs
  • II Hafodty
    Situated in remote wooded position at the end of a driveway leading off the track/road leading down from Dinorwic to Llanberis; driveway has drystone slate slab wall with slab-on-edge coping.
  • II Incline, Drumhouses and Counter Balances ('A' Incline)
    Incline rising steeply to the north-east of the former Dinorwic Slate Quarry Workshops, running initially south-eastwards and then just to the south-west of the former quarryworkers' barracks turning
  • II Tanybryn
    Located on eastern side of road leading from Dinorwic to the Dinorwic Slate Quarry; dry slate slab wall to front with vertical slate slabs as piers to decorative iron gates.
  • II Locomotive Shed
    Situated to the north-east of the former Dinorwic Slate Quarry Workshops, the locomotive shed is located immediately north of the entrance to the Glan-y-Bala tunnel which once provided a connection to
  • II Offis Fawr (now Woodcraft Centre)
    Located immediately to the east end of the north range of the former Dinorwic Slate Quarry workshop complex, the building is situated high above the workshops on a quarried outcrop; flight of slate st
  • I Dinorwic Slate Quarry Workshops (Welsh Slate Museum Buildings)
    Located at the south-east end of Llyn Padarn to the east of Llanberis, the quarry workshops sit at the foot of the vast workings of the former Dinorwic Slate Quarry; the immediately surrounding land i

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