The bid to secure World Heritage status for the slate areas of Gwynedd has been successful.
Following consideration from the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee made their final decision on the application at their meeting today, 28 July. The landscape now becomes the fourth UNESCO World Heritage Site in Wales.
The origins of the slate industry Wales date back to the Roman period but it expanded rapidly in the 19th century with Penrhyn and Dinorwig becoming the two largest slate quarries in the world and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine the world.
The bid-led by Gwynedd Council is a partnership between a number of organisations including Snowdonia National Park, the National Trust, Bangor University, the Welsh Government, Cadw, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and the National Museum and includes the communities of Dyffryn Ogwen; Dinorwig; Dyffryn Nantlle; Cwmystradllyn and Cwm Pennant; Ffestiniog and Porthmadog; Abergynolwyn and Tywyn.
Alongside the nomination process, Gwynedd Council has secured funding through the Heritage Lottery Fund Great Place Scheme, Arloesi Gwynedd Wledig and the Snowdonia Partnership to revitalise the county’s quarrying communities.
World Heritage status is awarded if the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decides the site has “outstanding universal value” and the importance of the location “is so great as to transcend national boundaries.”
Wales currently has three world heritage sites – the Castles and Town Walls of Edward I at Caernarfon, Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech in north-west Wales; Blaenavon Industrial Landscape in south-east Wales; and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal in north-east Wales.
Siân Gwenllian MS, who represents large swathes of Gwynedd’s post-quarrying areas as part of the Arfon constituency claims that local people will be proud of UNESCO’s announcement.
The Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Arfon, which is also Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for the Welsh language has reacted to the announcement.
“I know local people, many of them direct descendants, as am I, of families that depended on the quarrying industry, will feel pride about this announcement.
“It is fitting that the area receives international recognition, as the area’s history is of international importance.
“We know very well that Arfon’s slate quarries were once an industrial epicentre of the world.
“Slates from Gwynedd were shipped across the world.
“Little did the local communities of Gwynedd see of the immense wealth generated, and I will be thinking of those generations today.
“As we reflect on the rich history of the area, we won’t just be thinking about the quarrymen, like my great grandfather, but also of their families.
“The strong women who without their contribution we wouldn’t be celebrating today. Our “resilient grandmothers” as the local poet Gwyn Thomas once said.”
Last week Liverpool was stripped of world heritage status due to overdevelopment along its waterfront.
First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford said: “Today’s announcement recognises the significant contribution this part of North Wales has made to the cultural and industrial heritage not only of Wales, but of the wider world. Welsh slate can be found all over the world.
“The quarrying and mining of slate has left a unique legacy in Gwynedd, which the communities are rightly proud of. This worldwide recognition today by UNESCO, will help preserve that legacy and history in those communities for generations to come and help them with future regeneration.”
Led by Gwynedd Council, the inscription is the culmination of over 15 years of hard work by partners including Cadw to record, safeguard and recognise the living legacy of the slate landscape of Gwynedd.
Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden recently visited the National Slate Museum, and said “This is such fantastic news for the area and for Wales. Working on – and submitting the bid has been a real team effort – and I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved. This news has made all the hard work worthwhile!
“Gaining World Heritage Site Status is an excellent celebration of the pride in our slate communities – and a driver for future regeneration.”
The new World Heritage Site is a serial property in six parts including spectacular quarry landscapes such as Penrhyn, Dinorwig, the Nantlle Valley and Ffestiniog. It also includes the National Slate Museum in Llanberis, Penrhyn Castle and the famous Ffestiniog and Talyllyn Railways, built to transport the slate from quarry to markets around the world and both later transformed through the dedication of volunteers into heritage railways.
Full details of the new World Heritage Site can be viewed on its dedicated website www.llechi.cymru
