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Blaen y Cae Slate Quarry is a post-medieval and modern extractive site in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference CN301. The quarry exploits the Lower Cambrian rocks that underlie the site, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone laid down in the Early Cambrian period over 500 million years ago. These fine-grained sedimentary rocks, when naturally fissured and weathered, split into thin sheets suitable for roofing and other purposes.
The quarry represents the industrial heritage of slate extraction in Wales, a practice that expanded significantly during the post-medieval period and reached its peak in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such quarries were integral to Welsh communities, providing both employment and material wealth through the export of roofing slate to construction markets across Britain and beyond.
The site's protection by Cadw reflects its importance as a record of Wales's quarrying heritage and geological resource use. The Lower Cambrian bedrock that makes extraction possible here is widely distributed across Wales, but each quarry represents a distinct phase of industrial activity shaped by local geology, market demand and technological innovation. Blaen y Cae preserves evidence of these industrial processes within the landscape.
Blaen y Cae Slate Quarry is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN301. View the official record →
Blaen y Cae Slate Quarry is a post-medieval and modern extractive site in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference CN301.
Blaen y Cae Slate Quarry dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a quarry. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Blaen y Cae Slate Quarry 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 CN301.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Hut Circle Settlement Above Gilfach (6.9 km), Cwm Llefrith cairn (8.2 km), Llystyn Gwyn Inscribed Stone (8.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Blaen y Cae Slate Quarry'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.
Blaen y Cae Slate Quarry stands on Lower Cambrian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Cambrian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.