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Home » Articles » Aerial photographs of gold minesAerial photographs of gold mines
Aerial photographs of gold mines from the collection of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.
Aerial photographs of gold mines from the collection of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.
Gold has been mined in Wales since prehistoric times. The pre-Christian Celtic chiefs wore fine gold torcs and armbands and became wealthy as a result of metal trading. The Romans later controlled some of the mines, developing large-scale mining operations. During the Roman occupation, British metalwork was widely circulated. Reaching their peak during the great expansion of the Celtic Church in the 8th century AD, Celtic goldsmiths produced work of unrivalled craftsmanship. Later, the Welsh princes became wealthy and powerful rulers due to rich supplies of metal ores. The Acts of Union passed in 1536 and 1542 made mining rights the property of the English Crown and royalties are still payable to the Crown on any gold mined in Wales. Welsh gold, which is mined by hand, is found in an area stretching from Barmouth, past Dolgellau and up towards Snowdonia. Welsh gold-bearing rock lies in seams, like coal, and has been known to yield up to thirty ounces per tonne. There are three gold mines in Wales today. Dolaucothi, near Pumpsaint, Carmarthenshire, was operated by the Romans, but after their departure it lay abandoned for centuries. Revival in the 19th century did not last long, with the mine finally closing in 1938. Gwynfynydd Gold Mine in Dolgellau opened in the 1860s and is one of the richest gold mines in Britain with a recorded output since 1884 of more than 2,000 ounces of fine gold. Gold was first worked on a serious scale at Clogau Gold Mine in Bontddu, near Barmouth, in the 1850s and in the early twentieth century Clogau was a key producer. The mine has operated intermittently to the present day. The Clogau and Gwynfynydd mines are the only mines to have recently produced significant quantities of gold, and it is from these two mines that gold for the Royal wedding rings - which are traditionally made of Welsh gold - has been obtained.
www.wales-calling.com/mining.htm
