Felin Fawr works

Felin Fawr slate mill complex - now in use as light industrial units

Date	12 November 2011
Location	Coed-y-parc, Bethesda	SH 61497 66410; 53.17670°N, 4.07379°W
Information	Felin Fawr was originally the main mill and workshop complex for Penrhyn Quarry. The first slab mill was opened in 1803 and extended in 1834. The foundry dates back to 1832 and the later slab mill to 1846. The manager’s house, on the northern edge of the site, is thought to have been constructed in the 1880s. Power was provided by two pitchback waterwheels, driven by water from the reservoirs on the Afon Galedffrwd, and in use up to around 1930. The later of the two wheels was most likely installed around 1906 when the yard was extended to the east. The locomotives operating on the Penrhyn Railway, running from the quarry to Port Penrhyn, were housed in the sheds at the southern end of the complex. Penrhyn Railway closed in 1962, followed in 1965 by the closure of both the internal quarry railway and Felin Fawr Works. The site was purchased by Gwynedd Council in 1990 and parts of the complex were restored and converted for use as light industrial units. Further conversion work is also planned. The site is run by Felin Fawr Cyf. Penrhyn Railway is also gradually being recreated by a group of preservation volunteers. In the first phase, restoration work has been carried out on the locomotive shed and track has been laid in the yard to link up with the route of the ‘main line’. Felin fawr Slate Works (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales); Felin Fawr Cyf; Penrhyn Quarry Railway

Site entrance from the B4409 at Coed-y-parc

Felin Fawr, with the more modern industrial units at Coed-y-parc behind

(A) Manager's house, c 1880s; (B) Slab mill, 1803; (C) Slab mill, 1846; (D) Waterwheel; (E) Foundry, 1832; (F) Joiner's shop; (G) Loco shed; (H) Wheel house, c 1906;

Remains of foundry chimney