The National Slate Museum of Wales
The National Slate Museum is located in Llanberis, in the mountains of Snowdonia at the foot of the Dinorwig mine, one of the largest slate mines in Wales. The museum is set up as if the workers walked away yesterday and will be returning tomorrow. I recommend a visit to anyone who spends any time in North Wales. The slate mines of Snowdonia, including the Dinorwig mine, in 2021 were named a World Heritage Site. People have been quarrying slate in Wales at least since Roman times. Just in Caernarfon, we know slate was used to build the Roman fort of Segontium and King Edward’s castle a thousand years later. With the industrial revolution and the growth of factories and towns, the demand for slate for roofing material–went through the roof. By 1870 the Dinorwig mine employed 3000 men. The Read more…
The Wool Trade
Edward I was the first English monarch to tax the wool trade–to help pay, as always, for his wars. Sheep have been herded in Wales since possibly the Celts, though it is difficult to pinpoint exactly when sheep first came to Wales. “Excavations show that in about 6000 BC, during the Neolithic period of prehistory, the Castelnovien people, living around Chateauneuf-les-Martigues near present-day Marseille in the south of France, were among the first in Europe to keep domestic sheep. Practically from its inception, ancient Greek civilization relied on sheep as primary livestock, and were even said to name individual animals. Scandinavian sheep of a type seen today — with short tails and multi-colored fleece — were also present early on. Later, the Roman Empire kept sheep on a wide scale, and the Romans were an important agent in the spread Read more…
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