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Treforys Deserted Quarry Settlement is a post-medieval and modern settlement site in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference CN321. The settlement developed in association with quarrying activity on bedrock composed of Caradoc Rocks, an undifferentiated sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone dating to the Caradocian period. These durable sedimentary rocks provided both the economic foundation and physical materials for the community that established itself here.
The quarrying of Caradoc stone would have structured daily life at Treforys, drawing workers and their families to what became a permanent settlement. The extraction and processing of this locally abundant stone shaped both the economy and the physical landscape of the site, creating the characteristic topography of abandoned quarry workings interspersed with settlement remains.
The desertion of Treforys reflects broader patterns in Welsh quarrying communities, many of which contracted or closed as extractive industries declined. The site now preserves evidence of this industrial heritage and the lives of those who depended upon stone quarrying, with the underlying geology that sustained their livelihood still visible in the worked rock faces and settlement debris.
Treforys Deserted Quarry Settlement is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN321. View the official record →
Treforys Deserted Quarry Settlement is a post-medieval and modern settlement site in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference CN321.
Treforys Deserted Quarry Settlement dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a settlement. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Treforys Deserted Quarry Settlement 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 CN321.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Fach-goch, standing stone to SSE of (4.2 km), Hut Circles near Craig y Gesail (4.3 km), Roman Bath-House, Tremadoc (5.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Treforys Deserted Quarry Settlement'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.
Treforys Deserted Quarry Settlement stands on Caradoc Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.