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Wrysgan Quarry is an industrial quarry in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference CN423. The site exploits the Arenig Rocks, an undifferentiated sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposited during the Arenigian period of the Ordovician era, approximately 478 to 476 million years ago. These competent sedimentary strata provided suitable material for quarrying and were worked to supply stone for local construction and industrial purposes.
The quarry's operation reflects the pattern of slate and stone extraction that characterised Welsh upland industries from the eighteenth century onwards. The geological character of the Arenig sequence, with its interbedded fine-grained rocks, would have determined both the methods of extraction and the quality and size of stone obtained. Weathering of the exposed bedrock faces over centuries of quarrying has created distinctive geological sections visible within the worked landscape.
Today the quarry remains a significant record of Wales's industrial heritage and geological history. The site's designation by Cadw acknowledges its importance as evidence of past working practices and as an exposure of the Ordovician bedrock that underlies much of upland Wales. The quarry demonstrates the relationship between local geology and industrial activity that shaped the rural economy and landscape of the region.
Wrysgan Quarry is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN423. View the official record →
Wrysgan Quarry is an industrial quarry in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference CN423.
Wrysgan Quarry dates from the industrial period, and is classified as a quarry. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Wrysgan 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 CN423.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Roman Practice Camp 440m WSW of Braich-Ddu (7.7 km), Enclosed Hut Circle Settlement South East of Yr Onen (8.6 km), Enclosed Hut Circle Settlement at Dolbelydr (8.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Wrysgan 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.
Wrysgan Quarry stands on Arenig Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Arenigian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.