Working Quarry, Show Mine and other adventure attractions.****

Extensive opencast untopping and demolition have removed much of the original structures. Current active work is concentrated in the rebuilt and re-equipped No. 7 mill. Former water-, steam-, and electric-powered systems like the ‘Incline Bon’ no longer exist, though the main exit incline passing under the main road survives. The Quarry Tours Visitor Centre occupies the original No. 1 mill, preserving many buildings and rare artifacts and providing exhibitions, demonstrations, and tours by rail and incline including underground interpretation. At the site entrance stands Plas Wunydd, once the owner’s house, now used as the main office.

As of 2025, Zip World Llechwedd operates within the historic Llechwedd slate mines, offering a range of activities largely situated underground in the former mine caverns. These activities include guided tours through sections of the Victorian mine workings, an underground trampoline park called Bounce Below, multiple zip line courses including Europe’s first four-person zip line known as Titan, and an 18-hole underground adventure golf course, and surface bicycle trails.

began operations in 1846 primarily as an underground working and quickly became one of the largest and most efficient in the district. It pioneered quarrying techniques, introducing the Greaves Dresser and Greaves Saw, which became standard worldwide. By 1882, the workforce numbered 553 men who raised 24,723 tons of slate, with output further increasing in the 1890s to nearly 50 tons per man-year. The quarry maintained a notable 9:1 waste-to-make ratio. Mills operated from several levels starting in 1852, powered mainly by water with steam as backup. Water balance systems and direct cranking powered pumping and hauling, while chambering extended nearly to sea level. The site contained about 20 miles of tunnels with numerous inclines. Steam locomotives were introduced in 1878, and by 1892 electricity generated by a dynamo powered pumping and ventilation, followed by a full-scale hydro station opening in 1904.

In the 1930s, under Col. Martyn Williams-Ellis, the quarry saw major innovations including electric traction and a uniquely adapted Blondin used for tipping and experimental untopping extraction methods. The workforce numbered around 400 then but declined to approximately 75 after World War II, with further reductions in recent years despite ongoing innovation. The quarry was an early user of the Ffestiniog Railway, with a direct incline connection made in 1852 and extended in 1879 to link the main line railway at Pant yr Afon. This incline operated until 1964.