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Wales
Great Orme MineAncient Mine / Quarry
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Llandudno before hotels Christopher Draper new book ' Llandudno before hotels" has covered bronze age mining on the Great Orme extensively, it well worth reading if you're interested in this area of North Wales. |
Posted by skins9th July 2008ce Edited 9th July 2008ce |
Great Orme Mine gets into Guinness Record BookEdited from icNorthWales. The Great Orme Copper Mines have won official recognition as the largest Bronze Age copper mines in the world... continues... |
Posted by Rhiannon27th May 2004ce Edited 27th May 2004ce |
Prehistoric cavern unearthedThe largest prehistoric man-made cavern in the world may be hidden under a north Wales peninsula. The cavern is part of a Bronze Age copper mine complex which was first uncovered in 1987 at Great Orme's Head near Llandudno... continues... |
Posted by Chris Collyer25th April 2003ce Edited 25th April 2003ce |
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Visited 11.7.10. This is a great place to visit. It should be towards the top of everyone's 'wish list'. It took me an 8 hour round trip to drive up here and cost me £50 in petrol. Was it worth it? - you bet it was!!! This has to be one of the wonder ancient sites of Britain. Easily found as well sign posted once you enter Llandudno. The facilities are good with a decent museum / shop and a really good system where you 'self-tour' the mines. I can't really describe the mines here to give them justice; only to say that they are truly awe inspiring. All I would say is that at one point during the walk underground you come to a HUGE chamber which is very well lit - jaw dropping - I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Th think this was all dug out by hand, with bones and stones - unbelievable!!! I was later informed by someone working at the site that another 8 of these had been found!!!! Please try to visit this site, I promise you won't be dissapointed. |
Posted by CARL 21st July 2010ce |
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Absolutely incredible !!! This is one of those places that should be more famous than it is, as well known as "that place in Wiltshire" or Avebury or anywhere, I think the only reason is, its not easily accessable, its on a mountain, in Llandudno, from the welsh capital its as far away as possible and still be in the same country. The four of us had the entire subterranian mine to ourselves, hard hats donned, we made our way through sometimes thin low tunnels, we peered down tiny shafts that lead only into darkness. Malachite still lingers in places and when you go down to level two you begin to appreciate just how big this place might be, some of the miners were only 5-7 years old, shocking isnt it, untill I think, how my kids want to go everywhere I do and do everything I do, these underage miners may have liked working with their parents. Sometimes the tiny tunnels look like its only just been abandoned. The tunnels go down nine levels and god knows how far they go, perhaps the descedants of the bronze age miners are still down there tunneling away, Morlock like. Upon exiting the self guided tour we find ourselves just five yards away from the entrance, funny how when your underground theres no way to know exactly where you are. The bridge over the entire place is great. There is a small mine entrance that can no longer be explored due to stalagmites and stalagtites, then when you think you can't be any more bowled over you find out that 90% of the mines are still to be uncovered. What an incredible place. |
Posted by postman25th March 2009ce Edited 25th March 2009ce |
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This place blew me away (how many time have I said that in the past? This time I really mean it!). I had wanted to visit for years but everytime we planned a Welsh trip, we ended up changing our minds and heading to Scotland instead. So, I finally found myself here, almost by accident, having cut short a weekend/Hallowe'en trip to Chester. We arrived on the last day it was open for the season - it was quiet and almost deserted but the staff were more than happy to talk to us at length about the excavations and history of the site. We had a nosey round the finds in the little "interactive" room before getting our hard-hats on and setting off into the mines. I was completely gob-smacked by the enormity of it all - each "corrider" we walked down had been mined out by hand (and bone) thousands of years ago, it is just mind-boggling. I am so used to seeing ancient monuments which have been built, mainly for reasons we can not begin to explain but here was real industry; a glimpse into the daily lives of our ancestors. Bloody incredible. |
Posted by Vicster18th November 2008ce |
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This a fascinating place - glimpsing into the subterranean workings of our ancient ancestors. The usual milking of commercial potential at ancient sites like this isn't as much in evidence here as at some places. There is the usual gift shop and it costs £5 to get in, but you don't get the feeling you are being herded here. The tour is self guided - so you can take your time, even choose to walk round the tunnels more than once. There are working archaeologists here, who are willing to field any questions. The large chamber about half way through the tunnels is a real eye opener - the amount of work put into it is astounding, unfortunately it was impossible to photograph. |
Posted by IronMan5th June 2002ce |
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According to the BBC Web site (and who's going to argue with that) Bronze Age miners at the Great Orm could retrieve 50% copper ore with basic tools, while moden copper miners extract only 1% per bulk of rock. It's also claimed that the Great Orme is the oldest industrial complex in Wales."The earliest mining at the surface dates to 1600 BC, whereas the bulk of underground workings took place in the Middle Bronze Age ... Finds at the site underline a society in transition. At the start the mine produced mainly tools, but by the end, the focus was on weapons. It was becoming an increasingly competitive warlike world, with people starting to fight for land and food." I'm not sure how dumbed down this analysis is, coming from Auntie Beeb. Kammer x |
Posted by Kammer17th December 2002ce Edited 17th December 2002ce |
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BBC Radio FourListen to the 'Unearthing Mysteries' programme on the mines presented by Aubrey Manning. |
Posted by Rhiannon 11th August 2004ce |
Megalithic WalksDetails of all the sites around Great Orme. |
Posted by IronMan 2nd May 2002ce Edited 30th July 2003ce |
Great Orme MineOfficial site for the Great Orme Mine visitors centre. Look out for the mine illustration featuring Super Mario himself, unfortunately Donkey Kong is nowhere to be seen... |
Posted by IronMan 2nd May 2002ce |
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