Wales - North Wales

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NATIONAL SLATE MUSEUM

Gilfach Ddu, Padarn Country Park,
Llanberis, Gwynedd, North Wales
LL55 4TY
t: 0300111 2 333
f: 0300 111 2444
e: post@museumwales.ac.uk
w: www.museumwales.ac.uk

People have been quarrying slate in North Wales for over 1,800 years. Slates were used to build parts of the Roman fort in Segontium in Caernarfon and in Edward I's castle at Conwy. But it was with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century that the slate industry really took off. By the 1870s Dinorwig Quarry employed over 3,000 men, slate had become one of Wales's most important industries and Wales produced over four-fifths of all British slates in this period. In 1969, Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle, on a platform of Dinorwig Slate from this quarry.


Housed in the original quarry workshops, this Museum tells the story of life in Wales's slate communities when the Welsh slate industry 'roofed the world'. As well as the foundry, forges, sheds and the largest working waterwheel in the UK, skilled craftsmen give live demonstrations of the art of splitting and dressing slate by hand. The National Slate Museum is twinned with the Slate Valley Museum in Granville, New York, USA, reinforcing the links between Welsh communities on both sides of the Atlantic. This Museum is a firm favourite with tour groups and has won the Award for Customer Service from tour operator CIE for the fourth year running in 2015.

Brief Overview / Museum Highlights

Craftsmen demonstrate traditional skills such a splitting and dressing slate.

Visit Fron Haul, the terrace of quarrymen’s homes, to get an authentic taste of what life was like during buoyant and leaner times.

See the waterwheel in action - the largest on the British mainland, measuring 15.4m high.

Operational machines and engineering workshops to explore, telling the story of slate and those who quarried it.

View To Steal a Mountain – an introduction to the quarryman’s world, telling the story of the quarry’s development in pictures, words, music and the latest technology.

Essential Group Visit Info:

  • FREE ENTRY
  • Open Easter to October, 10am-5pm daily. November-Easter, open 10am-4pm, closed Saturdays.
  • Pre-booked guided tours available
  • Free coach parking on site
  • 10% discount for group visitors in the museum shop, coffee shop and restaurant (minimum spend £5pp)
  • Free refreshments for coach driver
  • Wheelchair access to most parts of the museum, but some areas may require assistance.
  • Pre-booking essential
  • Allow 2 hours for your visit
  • Located in Llanberis, close to Snowdonia National Park, so it’s easy to visit the Museum and Wales’ highest mountain in one day.