Braichgoch Slate Mine

Braichgoch slate mine was a large slate mine located in Corris Uchaf, north Wales. It was worked continuously from 1787 until closure in 1970, apart from a hiatus in the 1900s. Most of the surface workings of the quarry were removed as part of a road widening and landscaping scheme in 1983.

Part of the underground mine workings are now open to the public as the King Arthur's Labyrinth tourist attraction (a fantasy journey into Arthurian legend taking place on one level of the mine) and the newly launched Corris Mine Explorers. Through the subterranean Corris Mine Explorer expeditions, the working lives of 19th-century Welsh miners can be seen firsthand. Equipment and discarded personal belongings remain untouched as relics of Welsh industry. The landscaped site above ground is also home to the Corris Craft Centre, a retail site from which several craft based shops operate.

Slate quarrying in the Corris district dates back to the 14th century when the Foel Grochan quarry at Aberllefenni is believed to have first been worked.

In 1787, David Williams leased the quarrying and mineral rights at Gaewern and Braich Goch from John Edwards, representing the Vanes Estate. It is not certain when quarrying began on this land, but certainly slate extraction had started by 1812. The early mining took place at Gaewern, the northern of the two quarry areas, under the auspices of the Merionethshire Slate Company.

It was not until 1836 that quarrying began at Braich Goch proper, under the name the North Wales Slate & Slab Company. By 1838 the lease, still from (now) Sir John Edwards, was expanded. In 1840 an incline was constructed to easy movement of slate within the quarry. In 1843 the company surrendered the lease to Arthur Causton a civil engineer. He obtained a new lease directly from the Vanes Estate, thus removing the subleasing arrangement with John Edwards.

Meanwhile, the neighbouring Gaewern quarry was struggling and in 1848 the Merionethshire Slate Company was dissolved after the discovery of serious financial mismanagement. In 1853 the property was taken over by a company known as Alltgoed Consolls. They restarted quarrying at Gaewern.

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