2.5 Historical Background to Mining at the Great Orme
The presence of copper ores at the Great Orme (figures 4 &5, plate 1) are likely to have attracted miners throughout the ages. Two major periods of working are now recognised, one during the Bronze Age (Dutton & Fasham 1994, Lewis 1994) and another spanning the past three three centuries up until the 1880’s (Williams 1979, 1995, Smith 1989). Evidence for Bronze Age activity will be detailed in the main text of this study, while information for the historical period will be described here. Mining is also likely to have occurred at various times between these two periods, and evidence for this will also be considered in this section.
There is a strong likelihood that mining may have occurred during the Roman period, as a considerable amount of evidence for an occupation or presence within the neighbouring area is indicated on both a local and wider level (Bibby 1979, Kelly 1976). One argument put forward by Willoughby Gardner (1958) for Roman occupation is somewhat circumstantial, based on a suggestion that two hoards of low denomination coins discovered at the nearby Little Orme, may have in some way been associated with local mining. The main evidence for Roman mining on the Great Orme suggested by Davies (1948), include stone hammers and sawn bone from the spoil tips and similar artefacts together with Romano-British pottery from a site 1km to the south of the mine. A more detailed account of Davies’s findings are given in section 2.6.2. Other evidence (Kelly 1976) from the north Wales area, includes finds of copper bun ingots along the northern fringe of Snowdonia and Anglesey stamped with Roman insignia, the location of period forts, and occupational remains at earlier Iron Age hill forts over the north Wales district. The likelihood of Roman mining in the Llanrwst - Betws-y-coed ore field bordering the Conwy valley has been discussed by Kelly (1976), who proposed that a number of lead mines in this area were operated during this period. He also mentions several others sites in north Wales where lead as well as copper are likely to have been mined during the Roman period. The nearest of these to the Great Orme include Parys Mountain (Anglesey), Talargoch and Halkyn Mountain (Flintshire), Ffos y Bleiddiad and Minera (Denbighshire) and Llanymynech (Salop). Other sites through mid Wales are also known, the most notable being Dolaucothi near Lampeter where evidence suggests fairly extensive Roman gold mining and an associated system of leets for providing water power (Annels & Burnham 1986).
Much of the evidence for Roman mining in other parts of Wales would suggest that the Great Orme mines are likely to have been investigated during this time, especially as Bronze age mining must have been obvious at surface. It is also possible that a
folklore tradition of earlier mining at the Great Orme must have existed during the Roman period. Such evidence as the extensive spoil tips, processing waste and numerous entrances cannot have been lost without any trace. It may perhaps, be possible that the converse is true, with the local community of the time having deliberately buried and disguised the mine in an effort to prevent any Roman exploitation (H.T. Williams pers. comm.). Whether or not this is true, such evidence will be difficult to discern, as Roman mining with the use of iron tools will be similar to that of the later period, prior to the use of gunpowder during the 1700’s, which marked a definite change in mining techniques and resulting evidence.
Pottery remains would be the best indicator of Roman activity, but to date neither Roman nor Bronze Age sherds have been found at the site. The nearest occurrence is at Pen-y-dinas hill fort (SH 779 829) which overlooks Llandudno town, where a single fragment of Samian ware is reported to have been found early this century. A number of coins of Roman age are known from the headland and documented in Bibby (1979) and Lewis (1993a). One particular coin is said (H.T. Williams pers. comm) to have been found within the nineteenth century workings off the Penmorfa drainage level. How this got here remains a mystery, and it is more likely to have been taken in by a miner last century, rather than have been carried from workings above, as there is no direct link to those near surface workings from which evidence of earlier mining is known.
The first evidence for post Roman activity comes from an ore washing site situated at Ffynnon Galchog (SH 7775 8367) on the northern slopes of the Great Orme. Documentary accounts early this century mentioned the existence of large tips of ore washings here, as well as at two other sites on the headland, all assumed to be of Roman origin (Lewis 1993a). A preliminary excavation here in 1990, which is discussed in a later chapter (section 4.4), produced fragments of stone hammers, bone and charcoal contained within sequences of dolomitic sands and gravels. All displayed distinct affinities with similar deposits and included artefacts from the Bronze Age mines in the Pyllau valley, and so at the time were considered to be of the same period. However sampled bone provided what appears to be an anomalous date of circa AD800. This may be a sampling error, but if confirmed by repeated dating could have important implications for our understanding of Dark Age activity on the headland.
In the summer of 1992 excavations south west of Vivians shaft produced an unstratified sherd of mediaeval pottery of possible fourteenth century origin (identified F.P.Jowett). This does not prove a case for mining activity, but at least does indicate some domestic activity during this period within the vicinity of the mine.
A revival in mining interests took place throughout Britain in the reign of Elizabeth I, with the licensing of German mining engineers who were pioneering mining techniques through western Europe. Their rights included North Wales, with attention more likely relating to the lead ores of the Halkyn Mountain district of Flintshire, rather than the copper ores of the Great Orme. From 1568 to 1688 the Mines Royal Society had exclusive rights to mine for copper throughout Wales and eight counties in England, while the Mineral Battery Works Society had rights for the remaining counties and other mineral rights (Smith 1993). During this period the Wynns of Gwydyr were operating a number of lead mines in the Llanrwst and Betws-y-coed districts.
In 1688, largely due to the English Civil War and the fact that Parliamentary forces are known to have destroyed mining and smelting works owned mainly by Royalists the Mines Royal Act was repealed. This new legal situation led to renewed mining throughout Britain. About this time, in 1692 a lease was granted to Thomas Mostyn to search for copper ores in the Pyllau valley. The translation of this word ‘pyllau’ as meaning ‘pits’ gives the first documentary evidence that former mining was known here, and that there must have been some surface evidence to support this description.
Documentary evidence during the eighteenth century suggests that mining was intermittent during this period. Lewis Morris visited the site in 1748, describing two sizeable mines that had been drowned out. In 1761 the mines were active again, then in 1773 Thomas Pennant in his ‘Tours’ noted their presence and depth.
By 1805 a working depth of 150ft (46m) had been reached. It is interesting to note that this depth is similar to the depth of Bronze Age workings within the region of Vivians shaft, and could indicate that the majority of activity up to this time had concentrated on reworking the earlier mines through a system of prospection and removal of backfill. In the early nineteenth century two distinct mines were emerging, the Old Mine on land held by the Bishop of Bangor, with the New Mine situated on property owned by Lord Mostyn of Flintshire. The approximate boundary between them lies along the trackway known as Pyllau Road, running from Pyllau farm to skirt the southern end of Cromlech field. The Old Mine comprises all workings to the north incorporating those known at present to be Bronze Age, while the New Mine lies to the south representing all workings of nineteenth century origin accessed off the Penmorfa drainage level. One other mine, the Ty Gwyn, named after an old farmhouse, lies to the east near the present Llandudno pier. There are few reminders to this once prosperous mine, for much of it is situated beneath the Church Walks area of Llandudno and the landscaped gardens of Happy Valley.
The main period of working at the Old and New mines extended between the early 1820’s to the early 1840’s, during which time the miners encountered increasing water with depth. This lead to the completion of an engine house in 1835 to serve Higher and Vivians shaft, and the driving of the Penmorfa drainage level or adit , taking eight years and eight months to complete between 1834 to 1842. By now the workings had progressed to about 200ft (61m) below sea level, giving an overall depth of 700ft (230m) from surface. By the early 1850’s the mines were in their decline, and even an attempt by the notable mining engineer Captain William Vivian of the John Taylor Company, failed to prove any substantial profits. Activity continued on a limited scale at all of the mines, but a combination of factors brought about their demise, the Ty Gwyn being the first to close in 1853, followed by the New Mine in 1864 and finally ending with the Old Mine in 1881. The principal reasons for closure were competitive copper prices from abroad, difficulties in pumping out flooded workings, and the fact that workers could now gain better wages and improved conditions working in the rapidly developing Victorian tourist resort of Llandudno.
2.6 History of Archaeological Evidence at the Great Orme Mines
2.6.1 Nineteenth Century Evidence
A number of articles from last century and the early part of this century refer to miners unearthing tools and workings purported to date from ancient times. Two of these discoveries are well documented, dating from 1831 and 1849. Both describe workings considered to be of very great age, dating from anywhere between prehistoric and Roman times. Within them a number of primitive tools of stone and bone were located.
The 1831 find describes miners breaking into an old working, in which were located a broken stag’s horn and parts of two mining implements, or picks of bronze. One was about 3inches in length and taken into possession by the then lessee of the mine, a Mr Worthington of Whitford. The other, a smaller fragment about 1inch long was sent to the author of the article, W.O.Stanley (1850).
The second discovery in 1849 was reported in a number of periodicals of the day, notably the Mining Journal (1849), The Archaeological Journal (Stanley 1850) and local guide books (Hicklen 1863). One particularly vivid account from the Gentlemans Magazine (1849a) describes how :
“In October 1849, the miners at Llandudno near Conway, broke, in the
course of their labours, into what appeared to be an extensive cavern,
the roof of which, being one mass of stalactite, reflected back their lights
with dazzling splendour. On examination, the cavern turned out to be an
old work, probably Roman; the benches, stone hammers, &c.,used by
that ancient people having been found entire, together with many bones
of mutton, which had been consumed by these primitive miners. These
bones are, to all appearance, as fresh, though impregnated with copper,
as they were when denuded of their fleshy covering. The cavern is about
forty yards long”.
The report goes on to suggest that the stone hammers were very similar to water worn stones found on the beaches at Penmaenmawr, which were therefore likely to be a source for these implements. A small semi-globular object of bronze is also recorded (see section 4.3.3).
During the 1860’s a piece of an “ancient copper implement, or weapon” was found in the workings, which from its curved and bladed form, seems to have been part of a bill hook or knife (Vivian 1868). A microscopic examination of the time observed that about one third of its composition was copper oxide, and therefore these impurities were considered to have been representative of some very basic method of production.
An English translation of an article by Parry (1863) also refers to the “old Welsh miners works”, mentioning dam like structures constructed of plaited hazel twigs on the outside and plastered with clay on the inside. These had been “put on the side of the rock, a yard and a half to two yards one on top of the other, and when the lowest was filled it was emptied into the next to it and so on until the highest was reached, then that was emptied”. The explanation of operation appears to indicate a method of removing water from the flooded areas, with a systematic baling of water from one dam to the next following the upgrade of the passage, to a point where water would then flow away from that working. It is likely that all trace of these structures has been lost as no evidence to indicate such dams have yet been found.
The same article surmises that the “early Welsh” must have washed their ore on the headland, as many suitable sites exist. One is seen close to the Llech gully on the western side of the Orme (SH 7532 8404), and another where the Calvanistic Methodist church now stands in Llandudno town (SH 779 825 ). Both of these sites and others described above will be fully described in a later chapter dealing with ore processing and smelting. Parry (1863) also described the area of mining activity to the north known as Bryniau Poethion. This he translated as the “hills of the cauldrons”, suggesting that this may have been derived from the place where ores were smelted in early times. More recent translations (T. Parry pers. comm.) assume it to mean the “hot or burning hills”, once more implying an association with smelting or even a distant reminder of the technique of firesetting or perhaps simply a descriptive term for the cauldron shaped Pyllau valley below.
Another account, an interview with a former miner John Hughes (Humphries 1917) describes “seeing hanging from the roofs big stalactites like branches of trees which had been borne by water penetrating the rock roofs”. Mention of “finding a pit or well full 7ft deep which was full of slime and must have been used for washing the ore” is also made.
All of these accounts became the subject of discussion by various authorities of the period, each putting forward their own theories on the remarkable discoveries. Some argued the bones had been used to work the softer parts of the vein; others refuted this pronouncing them to be the “vestiges of food taken into the mine”. The probable date of origin of the workings was also questioned. A general assumption considered the old works to be of the Roman period. However an antiquarian of the time, Thomas Bateman (Hicklen 1863) who had studied tools from the Great Orme along with similar tools from Ecton Hill in Derbyshire was strongly of the opinion that they dated from a much earlier period.He proposed the mining activity was the product of the ancient Britons or the old Celtic peoples, arguing that the “Romans never have used so clumsy a method of obtaining or pounding the ore, moreover, the use of bronze was well known to the inhabitants for a long period before that of iron”. This was backed up by his own excavation of a number of burial mounds around Derbyshire, which indicated that the use of bronze implements gradually displaced the use of stone, and they in turn gave way to those of iron.
Further articles (Hunt 1887, Humphries 1917) noted that the nineteenth century miners observed that the earlier workers had not been able to exploit the hardest part of the vein, where often the richest ore is found. They were therefore able, using drill and blast methods, to break out many areas of the older workings that contained profitable amounts of ore. Sometimes traces of fire and smoke were encountered on the walls or roofs of the workings, but the original entrances were never found, being buried beneath spoil and debris from some intervening period.
2.6.2 Evidence earlier this Century
No further references to the ‘old workings’ appear until the late 1930’s when Oliver Davies (1948) conducted an appraisal of evidence for early working at the site, as part of a larger study commissioned by the Committee of the British Association, to investigate Roman Mining throughout Europe. Other sites in Britain were investigated, predominantly in Wales and specifically Parys Mountain, Anglesey; Nantyeira, Nantyricket and Cwmystwyth in mid Wales and Trecastell near Conwy (Davies 1948).
Davies was able to inspect the dumps of mine spoil in the Pyllau Valley centred around the prominent feature of Vivians shaft. Unfortunately at this time all entrances to the workings were either capped off or sealed over by covering spoil, and so he was unable to investigate any openings underground . He was, however, able to collect a few stone hammers, pestles and ‘sawn bone’ from the dumps. These artefacts were similar in many respects to ones found at other European sites considered at the time to be of Roman origin. Undaunted by his inability to investigate further at Pyllau he concentrated his efforts on finding a suitable occupation site for the working miners. Eventually a possible location near to the Gogarth Abbey Hotel on the West shore took his interest. Resulting excavation around a supposed round hut revealed food refuse and hammer stones similar to those from the mine site. Fragments of Romano-British pottery of late 2nd century AD supported Davies’s idea that this was indeed Roman and associated with the mine site some 1km distant.
2.7 History of Exploration and Recent Study
For many years Davies’s (1948) belief that the mines originated during Roman times held the field, even though earlier authors had hinted at a far greater age. Nothing is heard again about the mine until the late 1960’s when a collapse of one of the shaft cappings (Treweeks) on Bryniau Poethion (figure 4) provided an opportunity for members of the Shropshire Caving and Mining Club to explore a considerable extent of workings ( C.J. Williams pers. comm.). Many nineteenth century tools and other artefacts were found in them, together with a number of stone hammers and occasional pieces of bone. Continued exploration lead to the discovery of another shaft (Romans) that linked to surface. This, like the first shaft, also had an unstable capping and was reported to the local landowner Mostyn Estates, who arranged for replacement steel grill framework to be placed over each shaft. Fortunately an access way was incorporated into each grill so allowing entry to the workings for continuing study.
Local enthusiasts continued to explore these workings together with a related area of workings at depth accessed via the Penmorfa drainage level from the west shore district of Llandudno. During this period an amateur archaeologist, Duncan James gained entry, through removing a mass of backfilled spoil, to a set of tunnels very different to those observed in other parts of the mine. He soon realised that the shape of these passages, and the existence of stone and bone implements indicated a much earlier period of activity. This prompted a more detailed investigation revealing further primitive tools, accumulations of calcite flowstone (speleothems) and sequences of spoil containing charcoal (a possible product from fire setting). In places considerable accumulations of calcite flowstone occurred up to 300mm thick , these were seen to be capping layers of spoil and occasionally spanning complete passages. James proposed a series of gallery-type workings with interconnecting ways, some 50m in length at vertical depths of at least 30m. Sampled charcoal from ‘gallery B’ (James 1990) provided sufficient material for the first date of a British mine site of 2940+/-80BP ( HAR 4845) calibrated to 1410-920 BC.
During the mid to late 1980’s the author together with colleagues from the Great Orme Exploration Society continued to discover, and investigate, both early and typical nineteenth century workings, producing surveys with brief descriptive accounts. At this time stone hammers and deposits of prehistoric spoil were discovered 55-60m below surface on the Treweeks - Owens vein system.
In the mid 1980’s Aberconwy Borough Council put forward a scheme to make safe all known mine shafts in the Pyllau - Bryniau Poethion areas, with appropriate earthworks and landscaping to provide a car park in the hollow south of Vivians shaft. An archaeological brief drawn up by Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (GAT) was included in the works contract to ensure that any features and artefacts of importance were recorded, surveyed and protected. However before the scheme could go ahead there was a requirement to produce survey plans of all underground workings to a depth of 20m. This was undertaken by consultants Ashton Mining Ltd.who commissioned the author with members of the Great Orme Exploration Society (GOES) and local land surveyors (Co-ordinated Surveys) to produce the appropriate plans and sections of the workings. In order to achieve this two capped shafts (Owens, Pyllau) and the collapsed collar to Vivians shaft had to be opened.
Once done, this allowed entry to a very extensive set of interconnecting workings, with eventual links through to those workings formerly accessed via the shaftways (Treweeks and Roman) to the north at Bryniau Poethion. Numerous features and artefacts led initially to the belief that many of these areas belonged to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But after more detailed study these ideas began to change, with the realisation that many places displayed what are now considered to be the characteristic evidence for prehistoric mining on the Great Orme. This included quantities of bone and stone implements, distinctive tool marks, layers of calcite flowstone, mine spoil containing charcoal and passages with a particular morphology that related to the nature of the mineral deposit and method of ore extraction.
As these underground studies progressed a development company, Great Orme Mines Ltd (GOML), put forward a plan to open part of the workings as a tourist attraction, hoping to assist funding of future archaeology by public admission to the site. The scheme required that a quantity of spoil be removed from the site to assist with tracing the original entrances to the workings. Largely funded by the Welsh Development Agency, excavations over three winter seasons removed upward of 100,000 tonnes of material, revealing not only many entrances but two separate opencast workings, also considered to be prehistoric in origin (plates 2 & 4). A watching brief by G.A.T. and G.O.M.L. was maintained during the majority of the earthwork operations.
In the spring of 1991 GOML opened a short section of passageway to the public, allowing a small part of the Bronze Age workings to be viewed. On surface a visitor centre and audiovisual building provided further information on the significance of the site, while a surface walkway allowed part of the opencast workings to be observed. Continuing excavation over the following four years extended the underground route, and provided a surface walkway that now encircles the main opencast. The removal of spoil has revealed part of a mined landscape which is assumed to have originated during the Bronze Age period (plates 3, 5 & 6). The capping layers of spoil have allowed many original features of early mining to remain intact, and its removal now provides a unique opportunity to study this landscape in detail. A similar picture occurs underground where many original features and artefacts have lain undisturbed or partially disturbed since the earliest mining at the site. This now provides a considerable wealth of information, the observation, recording and assessment of which forms the subject of this study.
