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Prince of Wales Quarry is a post-medieval stone extraction site situated in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference CN410. The quarry exploits the underlying Llanvirn Rocks, an undifferentiated sequence of Whiterock-period strata comprising mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. These sedimentary deposits, formed during the Ordovician period, provided a readily workable source of building stone and aggregate for local construction needs during the early modern period onwards.
The quarry's location reflects the practical logic of post-medieval development, where proximity to usable stone determined the viability of extraction. The mixed lithology of the bedrock—alternating layers of finer and coarser sediments—would have allowed quarrymen to work different beds selectively, choosing stone of appropriate quality and workability for their purposes. The physical evidence of quarrying activity, including working faces and spoil heaps, survives within the protected site.
The designation of Prince of Wales Quarry as a scheduled monument recognises its historical significance as evidence of vernacular industrial activity and landscape modification during the post-medieval period. Such quarries are valuable records of how communities extracted and utilised local geology, contributing to understanding settlement patterns, building traditions and economic organisation across Wales during this transformative era.
Prince of Wales Quarry is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN410. View the official record →
Prince of Wales Quarry is a post-medieval stone extraction site situated in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference CN410.
Prince of Wales Quarry dates from the post medieval period, and is classified as a quarry. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Prince of Wales 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 CN410.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Gorseddau or Ynysypandy Slate Factory (6.4 km), Castell Caerau (7 km), Hut Circle East of Taleifion (7.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Prince of Wales 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.
Prince of Wales Quarry stands on Llanvirn Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Whiterock. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.