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Alltwyllt Slate Quarry Incline is a post-medieval and modern incline structure located in Wales, protecting a significant phase of the country's slate extraction industry. The monument sits upon bedrock of Caradoc Rocks, an undifferentiated formation of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone laid down during the Caradocian period. These sedimentary strata provided the geological foundation for Wales's extensive slate quarrying operations, which expanded dramatically from the eighteenth century onwards.
The incline represents the engineering infrastructure developed to overcome the practical challenges of extracting and transporting slate from quarries in mountainous terrain. Such inclines typically incorporated railways, winches or rope systems to haul heavy loads of slate up or down steep slopes, reducing manual labour and improving operational efficiency at quarrying sites. The structure demonstrates the industrial adaptation of the landscape during a period of intensive mineral extraction.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh heritage organisation, under reference ME205, recognising its importance as physical evidence of Wales's industrial heritage. The Alltwyllt incline contributes to understanding the technological and organisational systems that sustained the slate industry, which was fundamental to Wales's economy and exported products worldwide during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Alltwyllt Slate Quarry Incline is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference ME205. View the official record →
Alltwyllt Slate Quarry Incline is a post-medieval and modern incline structure located in Wales, protecting a significant phase of the country's slate extraction industry. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference ME205.
Alltwyllt Slate Quarry Incline dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a incline. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Alltwyllt Slate Quarry Incline is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is ME205.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Water Powered Chain Incline at Bryneglwys Slate Quarry (1.8 km), Tarren Hendre Cairn (2.6 km), Craig yr Aderyn Hillfort (3.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Alltwyllt Slate Quarry Incline's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Alltwyllt Slate Quarry Incline stands on Caradoc Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.