Looking across the opencast area towards Great Orme’s summit.
Images
The opencast area.
Opencast workings.
Into the light.
Scarily narrow side tunnel.
It goes down
Quiet boy get yer arse down there
One for the kids, or the wee fella.
Digging out the mines in 1990
From the cable car, burial chamber Llety’r Filiast in the next field.
This is the way, step inside. Not exactly inviting.... but these are doorways to step through to witness an astonishingly artificial, yet primeval subterranean world.
The open cast mine.
Retrospective near the entrance to the current underground ‘self tour’. Note the multiple galleries.
Image the sheer endeavour of hacking this huge cavern out of the living rock with nothing but rounded stones and bone picks? I can’t. I’d have taken my (hard) hat off to the people that did this..... but since I’d already bonked my head a few times that was not going to happen.
The highlight of the underground tour... apparently the largest prehistoric artificial cavern in the world.
The piece de resistance.... apparently the largest prehistoric artifical cavern in the world.... with a touch of subtle coloured lighting to add a little definition to the rock faces (no filters upon the camera lens).
To think these galleries represent but a small percentage of those discovered to date....
Bit too much wattage in the bulbs there.... but I liked the effect.
As impossible as it was for me to comprehend the magnitude of the achievement, these excavations were made by Bronze Age people with no more than hardened stones for tools.
Sections of the passages made me feel a right muppet trying to squeeze along with a ruck sack on my back. Others – there are apparently at least 4 miles in total so far discovered – only of sufficient width for children.
And there’s me thinking it was going to be a tourist parade. The vibe experienced down here is, in my opinion, quite exceptional once the other punters have moved on.
I had no intention of visiting the site upon leaving the tent that morning.... so no torch. Luckily I didn’t need one. As with previous subterannean sites visited these images are c30 second exposures – no flash – in an attempt to capture the vibe, not the detail.
The mine passages are subtly illuminated by electric light.... echoing, perhaps, the flaming torches of those responsible for what is a truly mindblowing series of excavations. Truly mind blowing.
The entrances to the subterranean galleries open to the public can be seen at the bottom of this image....
This looked, to me, to be related to the mines. The dimples in the ground reminded me of Grimes Graves.
Aerial view of the mines, taken from a cable car.
This standing stone looks old but may just mark the entrance to the mines
The Dragon
The Dragon and the Elephant
Taken from just below the trig point on top of the Great Orme. Looking across the mine with llety’r Filiast in the field behind. Across Llandudno to the Iron age hillfort of Bryn Euryn in the distance
Looking back to the entrance
Going down to level 2 (out of nine)
Furthest left is the exit on the right is the entrance
You get to rummage in the “finds” room before heading out – hurrah!
Lovely green malachite in the stone
The 470ft deep (down to sea level) Vivian’s Shaft. It was mined in the 19th century and was the only access into the mines between 1987 and 1991.
Part of the open cast mine.
The ‘open cast mine’ – it is however possible that this is the remains of a series of collapsed mine shafts.
The open cast mine.
Blocked passageways. Many such tunnels are to be seen around the self guided tour. They are yet to be excavated!
A very narrow tunnel near the mine entrance, presumably dug by children of around 5 years old.
Welcome to bedrock!
Articles
From the summit of the Great Orme, the landscape looks as peaceful as it is striking – all rolling green hills and farmland stretching out to the blue Irish Sea.
But the headland that rises over Llandudno, Wales has a secret, one that lay buried for thousands of years.
More than five miles (8km) of tunnels run beneath the hill’s surface. Spreading across nine different levels and reaching 230 feet (70m) deep, some are so narrow that only children would be small enough to access them.
These are the tunnels of a copper mine: one that was first dug out some 3,800 years ago and that, within a couple of centuries, was the largest in Britain.
Continues.....
bbc.com/earth/story/20160420-the-ancient-copper-mines-dug-by-bronze-age-children
National Trust spends £1m to secure precious archaeological site on Great Orme in North Wales
A chunk of the Great Orme, the imposing limestone headland on the North Wales coast which is home to Britain’s largest prehistoric mine and a herd of Kashmiri goats acquired from Queen Victoria, has been secured by the National Trust.
The £1m purchase of a large farm on the promontory overlooking the resort of Llandudno is the latest acquisition by the Trust’s 50-year-old Neptune campaign to protect special areas of coastline under threat of development.
The 140-acre Parc Farm will now be managed to promote the Orme’s status as one of Britain’s most important botanical sites as well as an area rich in archaeology, including the underground workings of the biggest Bronze Age copper mine in the UK.
The purchase means that the Trust has now secured 574 miles of coastline in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since the Neptune campaign was begun half a century ago in May 1965.
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.
Edited from icNorthWales.
The Great Orme Copper Mines have won official recognition as the largest Bronze Age copper mines in the world. The category is new, making the Great Orme site the first holder of the title. Mines spokesman Nick Jowett said staff were delighted. “Finally the mine has been recognised for what it is – a world-class site of major archaeological significance. The discovery of these mines turned former ideas about Britain in the Bronze Age on their head. Twenty years ago it was thought no copper mining took place in Britain during the Bronze Age.”
The award comes after 15 years of excavation, surveying and recording along five kilo-metres of tunnels. A section of the mine is open to the public as part of the Bronze Age mining experience tours. Research is currently being carried out by experts from the University of Wales and Daresbury Laboratories, in Cheshire.
They are fingerprinting the copper from the Great Orme to determine the extent of the trade network emanating from the mine. This year DNA analysis is being carried out on human bones discovered in the mine.
The 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.
Archaeologists excavating the 4,000-year-old site made their latest discovery 130ft below ground in December and have estimated it is at least 50ft in length.
They know the roof area is large, but will have to dig down through many layers of silt before they discover exactly how deep it is.
Full story at -
Not sure what I can add to previous fieldnotes so this is just a record of my visit last week 2/6/2015.
Spent the morning walking up to Aber Falls which are truly spectacular. After lunch in Abergwyngregyn we made our way to Llandudno and the Great Orme. By now it was a bright afternoon but very windy – I mention this because the wind on the Great Orme headland was too fierce to stay out in for more than a short while.
However, the Great Orme mine was sheltered from the wind and needless to say non-existent underground. This was somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a long time so was able to put my usual claustrophobia aside. Before going into the mine you have to select a hard hat and are invited to watch a short introductory video – which proved to be helpful, informing us that the ancient mines were unearthed in 1987. We were joined by a couple from West Yorkshire and let them lead the way down into the narrow 3,500 year old passages leading to a massive, prehistoric cavern which is lit by coloured lights. The passages eventually come back out into the 4,000 year old Great Opencast.
To say this place is awesome is no exaggeration – the visitors guide to Llandudno quotes Current Archaeology Magazine “Stonehenge is certainly a world class site but now it is joined by the bronze age mines at Llandudno.”
In the Visitors Centre there are displays and artefacts depicting mining, smelting and life in the Bronze Age. The gift shop and second hand book shop are staffed by archaeologists and historians working on the site – all profits go back into the project.
For anyone visiting from Llandudno without a car there is the Great Orme Tramway – which apparently is Britain’s only cable-hauled street Tramway. The first stop is Halfway Station and probably where you should get out for the ancient copper mine.
Guess it’s a pretty well established irony how casual experiences – those unintended, spur of the moment decisions subject to minimal (if any) planning... and no preconceptions – can sometimes end up becoming emotional/artistic highlights of this condition we blithely refer to as life? Of course this may just represent the tangible benefits of a realistic outlook driven by past endeavour, the visitor perhaps subscribing to what the Pet Shop Boys once defined, tongues firmly in cheek, as the philosophy of ‘Miserabilism’. Well, if the cap and dark sunglasses fit. Anyway... a visit to the Great Orme Bronze Age mine this morning is just about the most perfect example of this happy scenario I can recall for, oh, ages.
Although Hurricane Gonzalo’s winds have thankfully abated somewhat, the North Walian uplands’ seemingly perennial companion – persistent hill fog – ensures I do not linger within Nant Ffrancon, the jagged, other-worldly profile of Tryfan too primeval for comfort, thrusting, partially subsumed in all that swirling vapour, into a seemingly parallel dimension beyond human cognition. So, what to do? Ah, I recall the Great Orme possesses a portal tomb. That’ll do. Thankfully times have changed since the traveller had to take his/her life in hand to traverse the northern foothills of Y Carneddau as they sweep down to Conwy Bay, tunnels bored in the living rock nowadays affording easy, if somewhat serpentine passage for the A55 heading for Conwy and Llandudno. Furthermore, I’m pleased to say that my suppositions are false, the old school seaside resort retaining more than a touch of its assumed former elegance. A very steep (signposted) road shadows a tram line to ascend The Great Orme. I decide to park up in the obvious Mine car park and seek out the Llety’r Filiast dolmen, the map not that clear as to the tomb’s whereabouts, well at least to these eyes.
Nonchalantly wandering into the ‘gift shop’ to ask directions the middle-aged bloke at the counter – whom it transpires from the introductory video is one of the original archaeologists working here (how cool is that?) – asks whether I want to take the tour? Suddenly put on the spot I mumble ‘Er, OK, I guess so... while I’m here’ which draws a wry smile from his rather attractive female companion.. as if to say ‘you won’t be so blase afterwards, trust me’. Or something like that. Anyway, initial impressions of the site are not good, not unless the devastating residue of ‘industrial heritage’ is your thing, steps directing the visitor to the bottom of a quarry – a big stony pit, in other words – whereby several dark gashes within the limestone suggest gateways to somewhere else not really of this planet.... Yeah, do I really want to venture inside? Not sure, to be honest, so I force the issue and render obsolete further objections in my usual not-so-subtle manner. Crossing the Rubicon and burning the bridge behind me, so to speak.
The initial shaft is surprisingly narrow, the rough hewn ceiling low enough to make me feel rather stupid for questioning the validity of having to wear a ‘hard hat’. Subtle – for the most part – lighting by bare electric bulbs renders a torch unnecessary and, although the engineered, ‘tourist friendly’ floor and wooden staircases may adversely impact the subterranean purist a little, the overall effect is, in my opinion superb, chock full of vibe. In fact my only gripe is the cartoon posters which periodically adorn the passage walls, presumably for the benefit of school parties. Deciding to take my time I pause in the entrance to one of innumerable diverging sub-shafts to let my noisy co-visitors pass. Muppets. As their complaining utterances recede into the distance the sheer scale of these excavations, effected with nothing but hardened stones and bone picks, slowly becomes apparent. Well, sort of... since the thought of hewing solid rock with such primitive tools does not compute in any coherent manner. Paradoxes arise at every turn, leaving the brain in turmoil. Surely such a feat is impossible, but then again it can’t be because here am I within the rock as surely as the A55 can be found within Penmaenmawr. So how did they do it? Ouch. A hard hat hasn’t been devised that can mitigate that kind of cerebral overload. The effort is simply awe inspiring, beyond comprehension, surely rendering the titanic excavation of Avebury’s ditch a mere warm up exercise in comparison?
The shaft descends further into this perplexing, disorientating underworld, the side walls and ceiling contracting and widening at various points as if in mimicry of a natural cave... such as that visited last month within the Carreg Cennen, some way to the south. OK, the vibe isn’t as extreme as within that sublime place; but then not only is the scale here beyond comparison... it is all the result of the efforts of humans. Wow. And then the climax of the tour, the piece de resistance proving to be a massive chamber, the gaping interior accorded some definition courtesy of minimalist red and green lighting. It is a wondrous, truly amazing sight to behold, apparently the largest such prehistoric excavation anywhere. I’ve tried to capture something on ‘film’, a vague snapshot. Needless to say it really does need to be seen in person. I tear myself away from the opening noting that a skeleton was apparently found beneath the entrance shaft, the sign postulating a possible ritual sacrificial dedication. Or something like that. The excited voices of numerous children announce the presence of a school party... so time to move on and leave this place of my own accord, not swept before an irresistible cacophony of noise like a piece of flotsam upon the incoming tide.
Exiting into daylight I detect a certain unease vying with the wonder swirling around in my head .... what if the Bronze Age peoples who accomplished this astonishing feat (apparently the tour passages represent but a small percentage of those discovered to date) did not do so willingly? Is there evidence to support my initial assumption that this was analogous to 20th century coal mining in the South Walian valleys? Not nice, but provided a living? Or were they mercilessly exploited by newly emerging Bronze Age Big Men, some of whom may have been laid to rest within the great round cairns crowning the undulating skyline of Y Carneddau to the south. A disturbing blueprint for the sub-human actions of Todt and his ilk during Nazism’s 20th Century nightmare. It is a sobering thought, disquietude at odds with the cheery cartoon figures depicted upon the posters. A fresh batch of school children’s voices fill the air to jolt me back to the present and, following a brief look into the open cast mine from the overhead walkway I head for the Llety’r Filiast.
Passing through the shop on the way out I stop for a brief chat with the staff. The attractive woman catches my eye once more and smiles, this warmer, more an acknowledgement of shared experience. Yeah, we both know she was right. What a place! I leave with far more questions than answers. Always a good thing, to be fair.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Listen to the ‘Unearthing Mysteries’ programme on the mines presented by Aubrey Manning.
Details of all the sites around Great Orme.
Official site for the Great Orme Mine visitors centre.
Sites within 20km of Great Orme Mine
-
Llety’r Filiast
photo 55forum 1description 11link 1 -
Pen y Dinas (Llandudno)
photo 26description 2link 1 -
Cryd Tudno
photo 9description 4 -
Kendrick’s Cave
photo 11description 3link 2 -
Hwylfa’r Ceirw
photo 36description 6 -
Free Trade Loaf
photo 7description 1 -
Great Orme’s Head
photo 17description 2 -
Coed Gaer
photo 7description 1 -
Ogof Pant-y-Wennol
link 1 -
Ogof Rhiwledyn
description 2 -
Carnanbane
photo 3 -
Castell Caer Seion
photo 33description 2 -
Dinas Allt Wen
photo 23ondemand_video 1 -
Gwern Engan
-
Bryn Euryn
photo 16forum 1description 2link 1 -
Llyn Y Wrach
photo 21description 2 -
Hafodty Circle
photo 29ondemand_video 1description 1 -
Tydden-Grasod
photo 6description 2 -
Hafodty
photo 16description 2 -
Waen Gyrach
photo 14description 2 -
Hendre Waelod
photo 30description 6link 2 -
Red Farm
photo 20forum 2description 3 -
Maen Crwn
photo 21description 2 -
Cerrig-y-Ddinas
photo 22description 3 -
Fridd Wanc
photo 10description 1 -
Circle 275
photo 31forum 1description 5 -
Y Meini Hirion
photo 103forum 4description 15link 1 -
Monument 280
photo 44description 5 -
Graig Lwyd
photo 13forum 1description 1link 1 -
Circle 278
photo 26forum 2description 3 -
Cors y Carneddau
photo 5description 3 -
Cerrig Gwynion
photo 7description 1link 1 -
Cors y Carneddau
photo 41description 3link 1 -
Cefn Coch (Penmaenmawr)
photo 35description 3link 1 -
Maen Penddu
photo 21forum 1description 2 -
Cefn Maen Amor
photo 7description 3 -
Braich y Dinas
link 1 -
Moelfre (Penmaenmawr)
photo 12description 3 -
Caer Bach cairn
photo 4description 1 -
Bryniau Bugeilydd
photo 5description 1 -
Caer Bach
photo 42ondemand_video 1forum 1description 6 -
Foel Lwyd (north)
photo 11 -
Cairns SSW of Caer Bach
photo 2description 1 -
Maes-y-Bryn
photo 5 -
Ffrith y Ddwyffrwd
photo 7description 1 -
Rhiw Burial Chamber
photo 30forum 1description 5 -
Caerhun Stones
photo 12forum 1 -
Dinas (Llanfairfechan)
photo 36description 2 -
Maen-y-Bardd
photo 67description 9link 1 -
Foel Lwyd
photo 3description 1 -
Ffon-y-Cawr
photo 21forum 1description 4 -
Cae Coch
photo 26forum 1description 4 -
Nant-y-Cytiau Arrow Stone
photo 2description 2 -
Arrow Stone SW of Cammarnaint
photo 2description 2 -
Garreg Fawr
photo 20forum 1description 2 -
Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen
photo 38description 6 -
The Giantess’ Apronful
photo 18description 5 -
Cerrig Pryfaid
photo 36forum 2description 10 -
Llanerch Fedw
photo 4description 1 -
Bedd Carrog
description 1 -
Garreg Fawr
photo 4description 1 -
Arrow Stone II near Ffridd Newydd
photo 15forum 1description 5 -
Yr Orsedd cup marked stone
photo 3description 1 -
Arrow Stone I near Ffridd Newydd
photo 8description 3link 1 -
Yr Orsedd standing stone
photo 10description 2 -
Cairn NNE of Foel Ganol
photo 5description 1 -
Foel Dduarth Arrow Stone
photo 4description 3 -
Cairn, NNW of Foel Ganol
photo 9description 1 -
Pen-y-Gaer (Caerhun)
photo 47description 4 -
Carnedd y Ddelw
photo 27description 4link 1 -
Hafod Gelyn (north)
photo 3description 1 -
Afon Anafon Arrow Stone
photo 2description 3link 1 -
Foel Dduarth
photo 20description 1 -
Carnedd y Saeson
photo 36description 2 -
Foel Dduarth (west)
photo 9description 1link 1 -
Carnedd Pen y Borth Goch
photo 41ondemand_video 1description 2link 1 -
Anafon Valley cairns
photo 17description 1 -
Maes y Gaer
photo 20description 1 -
Tan-yr-ogof
description 1 -
Porth Llwyd
photo 2description 1 -
Ffrith-Y-Bont
photo 5description 1 -
Meuryn Isaf
photo 20description 2link 2 -
Pen-y-Corddyn-Mawr
photo 6description 1 -
Waen Bryn-Gwenith (stone II)
photo 14description 1 -
Waen Bryn-Gwenith (stone I)
photo 11description 1 -
Hafodygors Wen Cairn II
photo 5description 1 -
Hafodygors Wen
photo 48description 6 -
Hafodygors wen hut circle
photo 4description 1 -
Cadair Ifan Goch
photo 3description 1 -
Coed Aber round house
photo 16description 2 -
Afon Garreg Wen
photo 11description 1 -
Cairn above Ffridd Ddu
photo 2description 1 -
Pen-y-Castell, Maenan
photo 10 -
Clogwyn-yr-Eryr (possible) stone row
photo 10description 4 -
Cras
photo 18description 1 -
Cae Du
photo 28description 2 -
Cairn N of Moel Wnion
photo 2description 1 -
Clogwyn-yr-Eryr
photo 7description 2 -
Castell Cawr
photo 4description 2 -
Pant-y-Griafolen
photo 17description 4 -
Moel Eilio, Y Carneddau
photo 14description 1 -
Drosgl (Northern slopes)
photo 3description 1 -
Moel Wnion
photo 29description 2link 1 -
Garnedd Uchaf
photo 7description 2 -
Ffridd Fedw
photo 1description 2 -
Drosgl Cairns
photo 38description 5link 1 -
Bwrdd Arthur (Llanddona)
photo 20description 2 -
Llangernyw Yew and Standing Stones
photo 11description 2link 2 -
Foel Grach
photo 28description 4link 1 -
Twll Pant-hiriol
photo 12description 1link 1 -
Cwm Ffrydlas, Carneddau
photo 13description 3link 1 -
Cwm Caseg, Carneddau
photo 7description 1 -
Cwm Cowlyd
photo 3description 1 -
Bwlch ym Mhwll-le (Llefn)
photo 25ondemand_video 1forum 1description 3link 2