page_title: Wrysgan quarry
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Wrysgan quarry / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: A map showing the Wrysgan Quarry. From the mill downwards, it dates from 1889, when the quarry was working, while the top half shows the uphaulage incline, and dates from 1919, when the quarry was closed.
context_page_description: Wrysgan quarry was a slate quarry near the village of Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Festiniog, North Wales. It worked worked intermittently from the 1830s, and was worked continuously from c.1850 until 1946. Wrysgan was an underground slate quarry, which was located on a small inaccessible site, some 1,390 feet above sea level, to the west of Cwmorthin.
context_section_description: Wrysgan sits high on the flank of Moel-yr-hydd, to the south of Cwm Orthin. It was separated from Cwm Ystradau by a sharp ridge, through which the quarry bored an inclined tunnel in order to connect to the Festiniog Railway.
  On the north side of the tunnel a tramway led to the mill and stacking area, which stood on a small area of flat ground high above Cwm Orthin. To the south of the mill an incline led up to the main floor 3 adit which led west into the chambers underneath Moel-yr-hydd. Further adits lay to the south, accessing other levels.
  In order to access the underground workings, five adits were constructed. Two were above the level of the main mill, and were connected to it by a balanced incline. A third adit was constructed at mill level. As the quarry developed, a further two adits were excavated to the north of the mill, and as these were below the mill level, an uphaulage incline was necessary to raise the slates for processing. This was constructed beside the original exit incline to Cwm Orthin. In the final days of operation, a rope haulage system was used to move the rock from the underground chambers to the foot of the incline. Wrysgan, like most of the slate quarries in the Blaenau Ffestiniog region, was excavated as a series of chambers, will pillars of rock left between them to support the mountain above them. While the chambers in many quarries were 50 feet (15 m) wide, with pillars of 30 feet (9 m), some of the chambers at Wrysgan were exceptionally wide, at 130 feet (40 m), with only 50 feet (15 m) of rock left to support the overburden.
caption: A composite map showing the quarry. The lower section, from the mill downwards, dates from 1889, when the quarry was working, while the top section shows the later uphaulage incline, and dates from 1919, when the quarry was closed.
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