157-565: The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period , when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium , now Caernarfon . The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then rapidly during the Industrial Revolution in Wales until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in northwest Wales . These sites included
314-581: A dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance. On Nero 's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum . Gaius Suetonius Paulinus , the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco ), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona ( Anglesey ) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across
471-1014: A scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II ( Caerleon ). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province. In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and " Duvian ". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at " Urbs Legionum " ( Caerleon ); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at " Dorobernia " ( Canterbury ); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at " Lundonia " ( London ); " Maximia " in northern England with its capital at Eboracum ( York ); and Valentia in " Albania which
628-549: A witch-hunt , which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide. As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend
785-575: A 20% tax on all slate carried coastwise, which put the Welsh producers at a disadvantage compared to inland producers who could use the canal network to distribute their product. There was no tax on slates sent overseas, and exports to the United States gradually increased. The Penrhyn Quarry continued to grow, and in 1799 Greenfield introduced the system of "galleries", huge terraces from 9 metres to 21 metres in depth. In 1798, Lord Penrhyn constructed
942-566: A building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt . The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent ; at least part of
1099-420: A death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293,
1256-516: A difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio 's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding
1413-491: A downturn in production in the whole industry, including at Aberllefenni. After the war there was a short boom into the early 1920s, but then the price of slate began to fall. By the early 1930s, the industry was in a deep depression, with a 3-day week being worked for part of 1933. The quarry was owned by A. Hamilton Pryce, who in 1935 leased it to Sir Henry Haydn Jones , owner of the Bryn Eglwys quarry near Abergynolwyn and
1570-405: A large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian , Pertinax , and Gordian I . There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement
1727-518: A large part of Hamburg in 1842 led to a demand for slate for rebuilding, and Germany became an important market, particularly for Ffestiniog slate. In 1843, the Padarn Railway became the first quarry railway to use steam locomotives, and the transport of slate by train rather than by ship was made easier when the London and North Western Railway built branches to connect Port Penrhyn and Port Dinorwic to
SECTION 10
#17328562092171884-432: A lower poundage. The first Monday of every month was "bargain letting day" when these agreements were made between men and management. The men had to pay for their ropes and chains, for tools and for services such as sharpening and repairing. Subs (advances) were paid every week, everything being settled up on the "day of the big pay". If conditions had not been good, the men could end up owing the management money. This system
2041-473: A more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180. During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in
2198-549: A much reduced scale. On 28 July 2021, the slate landscape of northwest Wales was awarded the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site , whilst as early as 2018 Welsh slate was designated by the International Union of Geological Sciences as a Global Heritage Stone Resource . The slate deposits of Wales belong to three geological series: Cambrian , Ordovician and Silurian . The Cambrian deposits run south-west from Conwy to near Criccieth ; these deposits were quarried in
2355-633: A province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of
2512-616: A restored incline formerly used to carry slate waggons uphill and downhill. In Blaenau Ffestiniog, the Llechwedd Slate Caverns have been converted into a visitor attraction. Visitors can travel on the Miners' Tramway or descend into the Deep Mine, via the steepest cable railway in Europe, to explore this former slate mine and learn how slate was extracted and processed and about the lives of
2669-473: A rotary machine to dress the split slate. The splitting of the blocks to produce roofing slates proved resistant to mechanisation, and continued to be done with a mallet and chisel. An extra source of income from the 1860s was the production of "slab", thicker pieces of slate which were planed and used for many purposes, for example flooring, tombstones and billiard tables . The larger quarries could be highly profitable. The Mining Journal estimated in 1859 that
2826-454: A shipload of slates from Aberogwen, near Bangor, to Rhuddlan to roof a house at Henllan, near Denbigh . The wreck of a wooden ship carrying finished slates was discovered in the Menai Strait and is thought to date from the 16th century. By the second half of the 16th century, there was a small export trade of slates to Ireland from ports such as Beaumaris and Caernarfon. Slate exports from
2983-569: A single quarry. The first steam engine to be used in the slate industry was a pump installed at the Hafodlas quarry in the Nantlle Valley in 1807, but most quarries relied on hydropower to drive machinery. Wales was by now producing more than half the United Kingdom's output of slate, 26,000 tons out of a total UK production of 45,000 tons in 1793. In July 1794, the government imposed
3140-449: A slate mine as early as the 14th century. The earliest confirmed date of operating dates from the early 16th century when the local house Plas Aberllefenni was roofed in slates from this quarry. Transport problems meant that the slate was usually used fairly close to the quarries. There was some transport by sea. A poem by the 15th century poet Guto'r Glyn asks the Dean of Bangor to send him
3297-523: A slump in the home building trade had reduced domestic demand; finally French slate producers had increased their exports to the United Kingdom. All of this led to a prolonged decline in demand for Welsh slate. Eight Ffestiniog quarries closed between 1908 and 1913, and the Oakley dismissed 350 men in 1909. R. Merfyn Jones comments: The effects of this depression on the quarrying districts were deep and painful. Unemployment and emigration became constant features of
SECTION 20
#17328562092173454-511: A so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus . Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire. Around the year 280, a half- British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina ( Cologne ) but
3611-566: A storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters. Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni , ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus , and the Atrebates , ruled by the descendants of Commius . This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of
3768-402: A variety of uses including flooring, worktops and headstones . Up to the end of the 18th century, slate was extracted on a small scale by groups of quarrymen who paid a royalty to the landlord, carted slate to the ports, and then shipped it to England, Ireland and sometimes France. Towards the close of the century, the landowners began to operate the quarries themselves, on a larger scale. After
3925-483: A whole. The caban , the cabin where the quarrymen gathered for their lunch break, was often the scene of wide-ranging discussions, which were often formally minuted. A surviving set of minutes from a caban at the Llechwedd mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog for 1908–1910 records discussions on Church Disestablishment , tariff reform and other political topics. Eisteddfodau were held, poetry composed and discussed and most of
4082-511: A yearly rent of a few shillings and a royalty on the slates produced. The first landowner to take over the working of slates on his land was the owner of the Penrhyn estate, Richard Pennant , later Baron Penrhyn . In 1782, the men working quarries on the estate were bought out or ejected, and Pennant appointed James Greenfield as agent. The same year, Lord Penrhyn opened a new quarry at Caebraichycafn near Bethesda, which as Penrhyn Quarry would become
4239-692: Is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great ) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as
4396-477: Is now Scotland " with its capital at St Andrews . Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons. A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as
4553-577: Is open at the top. From 1859 the quarries at Aberllefenni were connected to the Corris Railway , a narrow gauge railway which carried slate down the Dulas Valley to Machynlleth. There it was transferred to the standard gauge Cambrian Railways and shipped throughout Great Britain . The Aberllefenni quarries continued to dispatch slate on the Corris Railway until its closure in 1948. After 1948,
4710-560: Is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed. The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul , believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition
4867-598: Is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate . Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation . Some of the most important sources for this era are
Slate industry in Wales - Misplaced Pages Continue
5024-507: The Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior . This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana , whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context. In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161)
5181-551: The Battle of Mons Graupius . Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million , these are very high figures. Under
5338-784: The Battle of Watling Street . Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether. There was further turmoil in 69, the " Year of the Four Emperors ". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua
5495-538: The British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes , and returned to Gaul . Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at
5652-477: The Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells ( musculi ) according to Suetonius , perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates . The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni , and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD,
5809-569: The Dee valley and around Machynlleth . The virtues of slate as a building and roofing material have been recognised since the Roman period. The Roman fort at Segontium, Caernarfon, was originally roofed with tiles, but the later levels contain numerous slates, used for both roofing and flooring. The nearest deposits are about five miles (8 km) away in the Cilgwyn area, indicating that the slates were not used merely because they were available on-site. During
5966-532: The Ffestiniog Railway , and Abergynolwyn and Bryn Eglwys quarry , including the Talyllyn Railway . The Welsh slate industry was essentially a Welsh-speaking industry. Most of the workforce in the main slate-producing areas of North Wales were drawn from the local area, with little immigration from outside Wales. The industry had a considerable influence on the culture of the area and on that of Wales as
6123-511: The Iceni . The Silures were led by Caratacus , and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula . Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him . The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua , proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where
6280-571: The Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves. While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona , the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica . She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He
6437-636: The Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda , the Dinorwic Quarry near Llanberis , the Nantlle Valley quarries, and Blaenau Ffestiniog , where the slate was mined rather than quarried . Penrhyn and Dinorwig were the two largest slate quarries in the world, and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine in the world. Slate is mainly used for roofing, but is also produced as thicker slab for
Slate industry in Wales - Misplaced Pages Continue
6594-621: The River Dwyryd to the estuary, where it was transferred to larger vessels. There was further expansion at Blaenau when John Whitehead Greaves , who had been running the Votty quarry since 1833, took a lease on the land between this quarry and the main Ffestiniog to Betws-y-Coed road. After years of digging he struck the famous Old Vein in 1846 in what became the Llechwedd quarry . A fire which destroyed
6751-587: The Talyllyn Railway that served it. There was some improvement during the late 1930s, with 140 workers employed in 1940, but the Second World War brought further drops in production, with the number of men fell to 40 in 1944. After the war, the industry continued a slow decline, with industrial action closing the quarry for part of 1947. During the 1950s only about 40 men were working, all in Foel Grochan quarry. In 1956, brothers Gwilym and Dewi Lloyd took over
6908-441: The junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum ( Boulogne-sur-Mer ) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus . Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle. As part of Diocletian's reforms ,
7065-407: The "rubbish men" who cleared the waste rock from the galleries and built the tips of waste which surrounded the quarry. Only about a tenth, or less, of the rock extracted became finished product. The bad rockmen and rubbish men were usually paid by the ton of material removed, but the quarrymen were paid according to a more complicated system. Part of the payment was determined by the number of slates
7222-576: The 14th century. The earliest confirmed date is 1500 when the local house Plas Aberllefenni was roofed in slates from the mine. In the seventeenth century the Lloyd family owned the quarry, and it passed to the Campbell family in 1725. In 1806, John Davies gained control which passed to the executor of his estate, Pryce Jones, in 1824. It was Davies who first organised commercial quarrying at Aberllefenni around 1810. Although only 3 workers were employed in 1825, by 1854
7379-419: The 1890s. Management responded by tightening rules and making it more difficult for the men to take time off. Labour relations were worsened by differences in language, religion and politics between the two sides. The owners and top managers at most of the quarries were English-speaking, Anglican and Tory , while the quarrymen were Welsh-speaking and mainly Nonconformist and Liberal . Negotiations between
7536-658: The 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius , two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior . During the Diocletian Reforms , at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under
7693-586: The Berwyn Quarry near Llangollen . The final large-scale underground working to close was Maenofferen, associated with the Llechwedd tourist mine, in 1999: part of this site, now effectively amalgamated with Votty / Bowydd, is still worked by untopping. The Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff uses waste slate in many different colours in its design: purple slate from Penrhyn, blue from Cwt-y-Bugail, green from Nantlle, grey from Llechwedd, and black from Corris. Part of
7850-598: The Bethesda area, mainly from the Penrhyn Quarry. Blaenau Ffestiniog produced almost as much, and the Dinorwig Quarry alone produced 80,000 tons per year. The Nantlle Valley quarries produced 40,000 tons, while the remainder of Wales outside these areas produced only about 20,000 tons per year. By the late 1870s, Wales was producing 450,000 tons of slate per year, compared with just over 50,000 tons for
8007-789: The Breedon Group). It was previously owned by the Lagan Group, which also owned and carried out some operations at the Oakeley quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog, the Pen yr Orsedd quarry in the Nantlle Vale, and the Cwt-y-Bugail quarry. In March 2010 the company announced its decision to mothball the Oakeley quarry because of subsidence at the site. The Greaves Welsh Slate Company produces roofing slates and other slate products from Llechwedd, and work also continues at
SECTION 50
#17328562092178164-412: The Britannic achievements of an emperor . Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire. Britain was known to the Classical world . The Greeks , the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides , or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco
8321-469: The Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition , but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left
8478-428: The Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates. The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius , but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta , commanded by future emperor Vespasian ,
8635-536: The Danubian provinces . Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts . In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall
8792-469: The Dinorwig Quarry, with machinery powered by overhead shafting that in its turn was driven by the largest water-wheel in the United Kingdom, over 50 feet in diameter. There were several different categories of worker in the quarries. The quarrymen proper, who made up just over 50% of the workforce, worked the slate in partnerships of three, four, six or eight, known as "bargain gangs". A gang of four typically consisted of two "rockmen" who would blast
8949-399: The Dinorwig Slate Quarry is now within the Padarn Country Park, and the other part houses the Dinorwig power station in caverns under the old quarry workings. The National Slate Museum is located in some of the quarry workshops. The museum has displays including Victorian slate-workers' cottages that once stood at Tanygrisiau near Blaenau Ffestiniog. The museum has a working water wheel, and
9106-403: The Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus . The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements,
9263-532: The Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts . During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259
9420-420: The Ordovician slate was less brittle than the Cambrian slate further north, and therefore easier to work by machine. The slate mill evolved between 1840 and 1860, powered by a single line shaft running along the building and bringing together operations such as sawing, planing and dressing. In 1859, John Whitehead Greaves invented the Greaves sawing table to produce blocks for the splitter, then in 1856 introduced
9577-440: The Penrhyn Quarry between 1900 and 1903 marked the beginning of its decline, and the First World War saw a great reduction in the number of men employed in the industry. The Great Depression and Second World War led to the closure of many smaller quarries, and competition from other roofing materials, particularly tiles , resulted in the closure of most of the larger quarries in the 1960s and 1970s. Slate production continues on
SECTION 60
#17328562092179734-401: The Penrhyn Quarry. Further mechanisation was introduced, with a computerised laser beam being used to aid the sawing of the slate blocks. As of 2022, the Penrhyn Quarry is still producing slate, though at a much reduced capacity from its heyday at the end of the 19th century. In 1995, it accounted for almost 50% of UK production. It is currently owned and operated by Welsh Slate Ltd (part of
9891-503: The Penrhyn and Dinorwig quarries and in the Nantlle Valley. There are smaller outcrops elsewhere, for example on Anglesey . The Ordovician deposits run south-west from Betws-y-Coed to Porthmadog ; these were the deposits mined at Blaenau Ffestiniog. There is another band of Ordovician slate further south, running from Llangynnog to Aberdyfi , quarried mainly in the Corris area, with a few outcrops in south-west Wales, notably Pembrokeshire . The Silurian deposits are mainly further east in
10048-418: The Penrhyn estate are recorded from 1713 when 14 shipments totalling 415,000 slates were sent to Dublin . The slates were carried to the ports by pack-horses, and later by carts. This was sometimes done by women, the only female involvement in what was otherwise an exclusively male industry. Until the late 18th century, slate was extracted from many small pits by small partnerships of local men, who did not own
10205-451: The Penrhyn quarries produced an annual net profit of £ 100,000, and the Dinorwig Quarry £70,000 a year. From 1860 onwards slate prices rose steadily. Quarries expanded and the population of the quarrying districts increased, for example the population of Ffestiniog parish increased from 732 in 1801 to 11,274 in 1881. Total Welsh production reached 350,000 tons a year by the end of the 1860s. Of this total, over 100,000 tons came from
10362-408: The Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way . Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising , but the Romans expanded steadily northwards. The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia . In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians , led by Calgacus , at
10519-408: The Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus . Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when
10676-403: The Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay , but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with
10833-415: The area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway – Tyne isthmus around this time. A new crisis occurred at
10990-737: The assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles . The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium " (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium ). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia , Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun. , and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester ); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln ); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as
11147-425: The beginning of Hadrian 's reign (117): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco . When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall , to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought
11304-455: The capital to expand further. The quarrymen usually had to pay a rent or royalty to the landlord, though the quarrymen at Cilgwyn did not. A letter from the agent of the Penrhyn estate, John Paynter, in 1738 complains that competition from Cilgwyn was affecting the sales of Penrhyn slates. The Cilgwyn slates could be extracted more cheaply and sold at a higher price. Penrhyn introduced larger sizes of slate between 1730 and 1740, and gave these sizes
11461-513: The coastal town of Porthmadog, where it was loaded onto ships. The railway was graded so that loaded slate waggons could be run by gravity downhill all the way from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port. The empty waggons were hauled back up by horses, which travelled down in 'dandy' waggons . This helped expansion at the Blaenau Ffestiniog quarries, which had previously had to cart the slate to Maentwrog to be loaded onto small boats and taken down
11618-534: The coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts , Scoti and Attacotti , combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy ,
11775-473: The conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture , urban planning , industrial production , and architecture . The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding
11932-651: The continent. The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius , was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus , was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul. Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence . Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and
12089-492: The day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip
12246-639: The death rate for underground workers in the slate mines was 3.23 per thousand, higher than the rate for coal miners . The outbreak of World War II in 1939 led to a severe drop in trade. Part of the Manod quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog was used to store art treasures from the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery . The number of men employed in the slate industry in North Wales dropped from 7,589 in 1939 to 3,520 by
12403-485: The defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land. An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing
12560-588: The direction of a vicarius , who administered the Diocese of the Britains . A fifth province, Valentia , is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders . The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that. Following
12717-520: The east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war. Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum . Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won
12874-399: The emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus . The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in
13031-452: The end of the war. In 1945, total production was only 70,000 tons a year, and fewer than 20 quarries were still open compared with 40 before the war. The Nantlle Valley had been particularly hard hit, with only 350 workers employed in the entire district, compared with 1,000 in 1937. Demand for slate was dropping as tiles were increasingly used for roofing, and imports from countries such as Portugal , France and Italy were increasing. There
13188-406: The evening; to work hard from six to six; to dine on cold coffee, or a cup of buttermilk, and a slice of bread and butter; and to support (as some of them had to do) a family of perhaps five, eight or ten children on wages averaging from 12s to 16s a week. In 1879, a period of twenty years of almost uninterrupted growth came to an end, and the slate industry was hit by a recession which lasted until
13345-426: The extended mill, powered by a large waterwheel. That year the quarry employed 180 men. By 1879, the quarry was employing 169 men and produced nearly 4700 tons of finished slate and slab. The number of employees peaked in 1890 at 190. Production fluctuated but was trending downwards during the 1890s and 1900s. In 1908, the number of employees fell below 100 and declined further to 71 in 1910. The First World War saw
13502-449: The extension of a system of contracting out parts of the quarry. The quarrymen, instead of arranging their own bargains, would find themselves working for a contractor. The union's funds for strike pay were inadequate, and there was a great deal of hardship among the 2,800 workers. Lord Penrhyn reopened the quarry in June 1901, and about 500 men returned to work, to be castigated as "traitors" by
13659-487: The final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum ( Colchester ). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control. British archaeologist Richard Hingley said that the Roman conquest of Britain , beginning with Julius Caesar 's expeditions and culminating with the construction of Hadrian's Wall ,
13816-660: The following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola , father-in-law to the historian Tacitus , conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius , in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola
13973-517: The force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex . The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway , the second on the river Thames . One of their leaders, Togodumnus , was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for
14130-399: The frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors. The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as
14287-425: The gang produced, but this could vary greatly according to the nature of the rock in the section allocated to them. The men would therefore be paid an extra sum of "poundage" per pound's worth of slate produced. "Bargains" were let by the setting steward, who would agree a price for a certain area of rock. If the rock in the bargain allocated to a gang was poor, they would be paid a higher poundage, while good rock meant
14444-414: The government abolished slate duty in 1831, rapid expansion was propelled by the building of narrow gauge railways to transport the slates to the ports. The slate industry dominated the economy of north-west Wales during the second half of the 19th century, but was on a much smaller scale elsewhere. In 1898, a work force of 17,000 men produced half a million tons of slate. A bitter industrial dispute at
14601-496: The horse-drawn Llandegai Tramway to transport slates from Penrhyn Quarry, and in 1801 this was replaced by the narrow gauge Penrhyn Quarry Railway , one of the earliest railway lines. The slates were transported to the sea at Port Penrhyn which had been constructed in the 1790s. The Padarn Railway was opened in 1824 as a tramway for the Dinorwig Quarry, and converted to a railway in 1843. It ran from Gilfach Ddu near Llanberis to Port Dinorwic at Y Felinheli . The Nantlle Railway
14758-402: The industry. This growth was mainly at Blaenau Ffestiniog and in the Nantlle Valley, where the workforce at Penyrorsedd reached 450. Slate production in Wales peaked at over half a million tons in 1898, with 17,000 men employed in the industry. A second lock-out or strike at the Penrhyn Quarry began on 22 November 1900 and lasted for three years. The causes of the dispute were complex, but included
14915-568: The island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots . The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus , was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae . The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing
15072-462: The larger quarries had their own band , with the Oakley band particularly famous. Burn calculates that there are around fifty men judged worthy of an entry in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography who started their working lives as slate quarrymen, compared to only four owners, though obviously there was also a distinct disparity in the numbers of the two groups. A number of Welsh writers have drawn on
15229-553: The largest quarries in mid Wales, employing 300 men and producing 30% of the total output of the Corris district. The Cardigan Railway was opened in 1873, partly to carry slate traffic, and enabled the Glogue quarry in Pembrokeshire to grow to employ 80 men. Mechanization was gradually introduced to make most aspects of the industry more efficient, particularly at Blaenau Ffestiniog where
15386-441: The largest slate quarry in the world. By 1792, this quarry was employing 500 men and producing 15,000 tons of slate per year. At Dinorwig, a single large partnership took over in 1787, and in 1809 the landowner, Thomas Assheton Smith of Vaynol , took the management of the quarry into his own hands. The Cilgwyn quarries were taken over by a company in 1800, and the scattered workings at all three locations were amalgamated into
15543-628: The limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I . Aberllefenni Slate Quarry Aberllefenni quarry is the collective name of three slate quarries , Foel Grochan , Hen Gloddfa (also known as Hen Chwarel ) and Ceunant Ddu , located in Cwm Hengae , just to
15700-429: The lives of the quarrymen for their material, for example the novels of T. Rowland Hughes. Chwalfa , translated into English as Out of their night (1954), has the Penrhyn Quarry dispute as a background, while Y cychwyn , translated as The beginning (1969), follows the apprenticeship of a young quarryman. Several novels by Kate Roberts , the daughter of a quarryman, give a picture of the area around Rhosgadfan, where
15857-486: The main line in 1852. The Corris Railway opened as the horse-worked Corris, Machynlleth & River Dovey Tramroad in 1859, connecting the slate quarries around Corris and Aberllefenni with wharves on the estuary of the River Dyfi . The Ffestiniog Railway converted to steam in 1863, and the Talyllyn Railway was opened in 1866 to serve the Bryn Eglwys quarry above the village of Abergynolwyn . Bryn Eglwys grew to be one of
16014-475: The mediaeval period, there was small-scale quarrying of slate in several areas. The Cilgwyn quarry in the Nantlle Valley dates from the 12th century, and is thought to be the oldest in Wales. The first record of slate quarrying in the neighbourhood of the later Penrhyn Quarry was in 1413, when a rent-roll of Gwilym ap Griffith records that several of his tenants were paid 10 pence each for working 5,000 slates. Aberllefenni Slate Quarry may have started operating as
16171-502: The miners. The Braichgoch slate mines at Corris have been converted into a tourist attraction named "King Arthur's Labyrinth" where visitors are taken underground by boat along a subterranean river and walk through the caverns to see audiovisual presentations of the Arthurian legends. The Llwyngwern quarry near Machynlleth is now the site of the Centre for Alternative Technology . A number of
16328-407: The names Britannia I , Britannia II , Maxima Caesariensis , and Flavia Caesariensis ; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor ( praeses ) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after
16485-549: The names which became standard. These ranged from "Duchesses", the largest at 24 inches (610 mm) by 12 inches (300 mm), through "Countesses", "Ladies" and "Doubles" to the smallest "Singles". Methusalem Jones, previously a quarryman at Cilgwyn, began to work the Diffwys quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog in the 1760s, which became the first large quarry in the area. The large landowners were initially content to issue "take notes", allowing individuals to quarry slates on their lands for
16642-419: The north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva ( Chester ); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium ( Carlisle ); and between the walls along Dere Street . Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little
16799-400: The oldest quarry in Wales, closed in 1914, though it later reopened. In 1917, slate quarrying was declared a non-essential industry and a number of quarries were closed for the remainder of the war. The demand for new houses after the end of the war brought back a measure of prosperity; in the slate mines of Blaenau Ffestiniog production was almost back to 1913 levels by 1927, but in the quarries
16956-415: The output was still well below the pre-war level. The Great Depression in the 1930s led to cuts in production, with exports particularly hard hit. The quarries and mines made increasing use of mechanisation from the start of the 20th century, with electricity replacing steam and water as a power source. The Llechwedd quarry introduced its first electrical plant in 1891, and in 1906, a hydro-electric plant
17113-477: The professions, and in Wales as a whole, its output value compared with that of coal. The prosperity of the slate industry led to the growth of a number of other associated industries. Shipbuilding increased at a number of coastal locations, particularly at Porthmadog, where 201 ships were built between 1836 and 1880. Engineering companies were set up to supply the quarries, notably De Winton at Caernarfon. In 1870, De Winton built and equipped an entire workshop for
17270-408: The province to press their claim to the throne. As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior . This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as
17427-466: The provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum ( Trier ). The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency. Civilian and military authority of
17584-528: The quarry under the name Wincilate Ltd. Rapid modernization and mechanisation of the quarry allowed it to continue to produce slate into the 1990s. Aberllefenni was the last working slate mine south of Blaenau Ffestiniog . However, by 2002 it was no longer economical to extract slate at Aberllefenni and the mine closed in 2003. The slate mill continues to operate, processing slate imported from Blaenau Ffestiniog , Penrhyn and China. Small pieces of Aberllefenni slate are still available for name plates. One of
17741-477: The quarry was producing significant amounts of slate; that year the enormous "Alma" open chamber at the top of Foel Grochan was named after the Battle of the Alma . By 1850, the quarry was owned by Colonel Robert Davies Jones, and was trading under the name Aberllefenni Slate Quarries. In 1873, the quarry appointed Robert Hughes as manager, and he quickly modernised working practices there. He installed new machinery in
17898-471: The quelling of the Great Conspiracy . Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"? ), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall , in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall . Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On
18055-691: The railways which carried the slates to the ports have been restored as tourist attractions, for example the Ffestiniog Railway and the Talyllyn Railway. In July 2021, after development of a bid for over 10 years, the slate landscape of Northwest Wales was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . The areas included in the nomination include Penrhyn quarry and the Ogwen Valley , Dinorwic quarry , Nantlle Valley , Gorseddau and Prince of Wales quarries, Ffestiniog and Porthmadog , including
18212-543: The reasons for Aberllefenni's continued use was the high quality of the slate extracted. There are two major veins of slate running parallel to each other through this region of mid-Wales, the Broad Vein and the Narrow Vein , the latter of which Aberllefenni extracted. The broad vein is of considerably poorer quality than the narrow vein, and the slate it produces is of little use in roofing slates or polished surfaces. Instead it
18369-400: The rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in
18526-577: The relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo , writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius 's ships were carried to Britain in
18683-513: The remainder. Eventually the workers were forced to return to work in November 1903 on terms laid down by Lord Penrhyn. Many of the men considered to have been prominent in the union were not re-employed, and many of those who had left the area to seek work elsewhere did not return. The dispute left a lasting legacy of bitterness in the Bethesda area. The loss of production at Penrhyn led to a temporary shortage of slates and kept prices high, but part of
18840-429: The rest of the United Kingdom, which then included Ireland. In 1882, 92% of the United Kingdom's production was from Wales with the quarries at Penrhyn and Dinorwig producing half of this between them. Alun Richards comments on the importance of the slate industry: It dominated the economy of the north-west of Wales, where, by the middle of the 19thC. it accounted for almost half the total revenues from trade, industry and
18997-409: The rock to produce blocks, a splitter, who would split the blocks with hammer and chisel, and a dresser. A rybelwr would usually be a boy learning his trade, who would wander around the galleries offering assistance to the gangs. Sometimes a gang would give him a block of slate to split. Other groups were the "bad rockmen" who usually worked in crews of three, removing unworkable rock from the face, and
19154-485: The seat of the diocesan vicarius ; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni ( Cirencester ) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector ; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln ) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles; and places Secunda in
19311-493: The short tramway connecting the quarries to the slate cutting shed at Aberllefenni continued in use. Although locomotives were used underground, the tramway was operated by horse haulage. This continued until the early 1960s, when a tractor replaced the horses. The tramway was removed in the late 1970s, being replaced with lorries and forklift trucks. Underground, the 2 ft 3 in ( 686 mm ) gauge tramway continued in use, operated by battery electric locomotives until
19468-462: The shortfall was made up by imports. French exports of slate to the UK increased from 40,000 tons in 1898 to 105,000 tons in 1902. After 1903 there was a depression in the slate industry which led to reductions in pay and job losses. New techniques in tile manufacture had reduced costs, making tiles more competitive. In addition, several countries had placed tariffs on the import of British slate, while
19625-546: The slate communities; distress was widespread. In the quarries there was short-time working, closures and reductions in earnings. Between 1906 and 1913 the number of men at work in the quarries of the Ffestiniog district shrank by 28 per cent, in Dyffryn Nantlle the number at work fell even more dramatically by 38 per cent. The First World War hit the slate industry badly, particularly in Blaenau Ffestiniog where exports to Germany had been an important source of income. Cilgwyn,
19782-524: The slate industry was on a smaller scale and many of the quarrymen were also smallholders. Her novel Traed mewn cyffion (1936), translated as Feet in chains (2002), gives a vivid picture of the struggles of a quarrying family in the period between 1880 and 1914. Y Chwarelwr ("The Quarryman") produced in 1935 was the first Welsh-language film. It showed various aspects of a slate quarryman's life at Blaenau Ffestiniog. Roman Britain Roman Britain
19939-441: The sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not. The early-4th-century Verona List , the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus , and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of
20096-484: The starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus. In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius , who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into
20253-519: The tribes of the Picts : several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead , in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site. There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene . Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in
20410-407: The two sides usually involved the use of interpreters. In October 1885, there was a dispute at Dinorwig over the curtailing of holidays which led to a lock-out lasting until February 1886. At the Penrhyn Quarry, George Sholto Gordon Douglas-Pennant took over from his father Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant in 1885, and in 1886 appointed E. A. Young as chief manager. A more stringent management regime
20567-485: The valley side just to the north of the near-vertical narrow vein. Each tunnel connected to a large chamber from which the rock was extracted. These chambers ranged from 100 to 187 feet (30.5 to 57.0 m) in length with 24 to 30 feet (7.3 to 9.1 m) of rock left between the bottom of one chamber and the top of the next lower chamber. As more slate was extracted, several of the upper chambers were joined vertically to form an extremely large cavern known as Twll Golau which
20724-471: The west of Aberllefenni , Gwynedd , North Wales . It was the longest continually operated slate mine in the world until its closure in 2003. Foel Grochan is the quarry on the north side of the valley, facing Ceunant Ddu and Hen Gloddfa on the south; all three were worked as a single concern throughout their history. Rock was mainly extracted underground, though all three quarries had open pits as well. Aberllefenni quarry may have started operating as early as
20881-469: The western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to
21038-426: The workers, and by May 1878, the union had 8,368 members. One of the founders of the union, Morgan Richards, described in 1876 the conditions when he started work in the quarries forty years before: I well remember the time when I was myself a child of bondage; when my father and neighbours, as well as myself, had to rise early, to walk five miles (8 km) before six in the morning, and the same distance home after six in
21195-515: The writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland , mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied. Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of
21352-458: Was a drawn-out process rather than an inevitable or swift victory. After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales . The Silures , Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and
21509-481: Was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus . Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus
21666-428: Was built in 1828 and was operated using horse-power to carry slate from several slate quarries in the Nantlle Valley to the harbour at Caernarfon. In 1831 slate duty was abolished, and this helped to produce a rapid expansion in the industry, particularly since the duty on tiles was not abolished until 1833. The Ffestiniog Railway line was constructed between 1833 and 1836 to transport slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to
21823-522: Was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus . Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel. The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet ; he revolted upon learning of
21980-564: Was dependent upon slate quarrying and quarry closures led to a growth in unemployment in 1959. The nearby Votty and Bowydd quarries also closed in 1963 and in 1969, 300 quarrymen lost their jobs when the Dinorwic quarry closed. The following year the Dorothea quarry in the Nantlle Valley and the Braichgoch quarry near Corris announced their closure. Oakeley at Blaenau Ffestiniog closed in 1971, but
22137-437: Was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus , took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively. Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales , and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi . In
22294-402: Was harmless. In 1979, after a long struggle, the government recognised silicosis as an industrial disease meriting compensation. There was an increase in demand for slate in the 1980s, and although this came too late for many quarries there was still some production in the Blaenau Ffestiniog area at the Oakeley, Llechwedd and Cwt-y-Bugail quarries, though the bulk of roofing slate production was at
22451-556: Was introduced, and relations with the workforce deteriorated. This culminated in the suspension of 57 members of the union committee and 17 other men in September 1896, leading to a strike which lasted eleven months. The men were eventually obliged to go back to work, essentially on the management's terms, in August 1897. This strike became known as "The Penrhyn Lockout". There was an upturn in trade in 1892, heralding another period of growth in
22608-407: Was later reopened by another company. By 1972, fewer than 1,000 men were employed in the North Wales slate industry. For many years, the quarry owners had denied that slate dust was the cause of the high levels of silicosis suffered by quarrymen. From 1909, they had been responsible for all accidents and illnesses caused by the work, but had managed to persuade successive governments that slate dust
22765-482: Was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis , a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny. The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193)
22922-484: Was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to
23079-557: Was not finally abolished until after the Second World War. Because of this arrangement, the men tended to see themselves as independent contractors rather than employees on a wage, and trade unions were slow to develop. There were grievances however, including unfairness in setting bargains and disputes over days off. The North Wales Quarrymen's Union (NWQMU) was formed in 1874, and the same year there were disputes at Dinorwig and then at Penrhyn. Both these disputes ended in victory for
23236-536: Was opened in Cwm Dyli, on the lower slopes of Snowdon , which supplied electricity to the largest quarries in the area. The use of electric saws and other machinery reduced the hard manual labour involved in extracting the slate, but produced much more slate dust than the old manual methods, leading to an increased incidence of silicosis . The work was also dangerous in other ways, with the blasting operations responsible for many deaths. A government enquiry in 1893 found that
23393-454: Was recalled from Britain back to Rome and awarded the ornaments of a triumph, before returning to continue as governor. By 87 the decision was taken to abandon most of the land north of the Cheviot Hills allowing for troops to be moved to other frontiers which were under pressure. Tacitus reports Agricola as feeling bitter about this turn of events. For much of the history of Roman Britain,
23550-415: Was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192. The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for
23707-417: Was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia ( Boulogne-sur-Mer ) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base. An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization
23864-418: Was some increased demand for slates to repair bombed buildings after the end of the war, but the use of slate for new buildings was banned, apart from the smallest sizes. This ban was lifted in 1949. Total production of slate in Wales declined from 54,000 tons in 1958 to 22,000 tons in 1970. The Diffwys quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog closed in 1955 after almost two centuries of operation. North Wales
24021-689: Was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana , the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix ) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix ) are known to have served during the Boudican revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum ( York ) in 71 and on
24178-507: Was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain , consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain . The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars . According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during
24335-483: Was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration. Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus , raised the standard of revolt at Segontium ( Caernarfon ) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel . Maximus held much of
24492-514: Was used in walls, fences and hardcore. The narrow vein was of much better quality and could be used in much higher quality applications and fetched higher prices. Slate extracted from the narrow vein at Aberllefenni is deep blue and extremely hard and dense. It resists fine splitting, so most of the mines' product was large cut slabs rather than split roofing slates. Foel Grochan mine consists of eight near-horizontal tunnels at approximately 60 feet (18.3 m) vertical separation. These were bored into
24649-485: Was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes , destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum ( Colchester ) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium ),
#216783