attraction

Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru National Slate Museum

A man in a grey jumper and blue dungarees, sits beside a pile of slates. His right hand is raised, holding a wooden mallet and his left hand holds a c
Due to redevelopment the National Slate Museum will temporarily close from November 2024-until 2026. A living working museum housed in the industrial Victorian workshops that once serviced and maintained the enormous Dinorwic slate quarry.

Attraction Information

Get in touch

Location:
Gilfach Ddu, Llanberis, Llanberis, Gwynedd, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 4TY
Telephone:
0300 111 2 333
Email:
slate@museumwales.ac.uk
Website:
http://museum.wales/slate/

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Facilities

  • Accessibility Facilities
  • Business Facilities
  • Cater For Groups
  • Children Welcome
  • Mobility Accessibility Facilities
  • Pets Accepted

Take a look around

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A blacksmith is dressed in a blue shirt and leather apron. He stands in front of a forge which is burning brightly. He holds a long metal rod that's j
Blacksmith at work, National Slate Museum
Llanberis
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A large stone building, two storeys high, with a large archway in the middle to allow a steam train to enter the yard beyond. .there are arched window
Entrance to National Slate Museum, Llanberis
Llanberis
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Parents and young son look at a pile of dressed slates piled onto a wagon in the workshop yard.
Discovering the slate, piled high on wagons
Llanberis
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two parents and young son explore the pattern loft. There are wooden models, known as patterns, of wheels and cogs. These patterns were used to cast w
The Pattern Loft at National Slate Museum
Llanberis
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A row of 4 small cottages, built of stone. The first two cottages are painted white. They have one window and a door downstairs and one window upstair
Fron Haul, former slate-workers cottages
Llanberis
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The picture is dominated by the large mountains of Snowdonia. In the foreground, you can see the chimneys of the cottages on site at the museum
View of Snowdonia mountains from museum
Llanberis

About Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru National Slate Museum

Shadowed by towering slate mountains, the National Slate Museum Llanberis is housed in the Victorian workshops that once serviced and maintained the enormous Dinorwig slate quarry above it. The workshops catered for all the repair and maintenance work demanded by a quarry, which once employed well over 3,000 men. From strikes and suffering to craftsmanship and community, this is a unique opportunity to glimpse the lives of the slate workers and their families.

a craftsman in blue overalls sits on a bench working the piece of slate with a saw. in the background, a group of visitors are watching him. He explai
Slate Splitting Demonstration

Attractions include our stunning introductory film – To Steel A Mountain; daily slate splitting demonstrations by our Quarry Craftsmen and giant waterwheel – the largest of its kind in mainland Britain. Other favourites at the museum are our homes including the Chief Engineer’s House and the Quarrymen’s Houses – re-erected stone by stone at the museum and refurbished to show key dates in the slate industry’s history.
Visit the workshops themselves including foundry, smithy, saw sheds and Caban (Mess Room) and see UNA – our Hunslett Locomotive once used to haul rubble in the quarries but now – at over 100 years old – the museum’s pride and joy. New developments on site include a new ‘pattern’ store area to safely house the museum’s fantastic collection of over 2,000 wooden patterns – originally used in the casting process.

Café. Shop. Open all year. Free Admission.
April-October, open daily 10am-5pm.
November- March, open Sunday - Friday, 10am-4pm (closed Saturdays)

Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site telling the story of the slate industry across north-west Wales.

National Slate Museum

Location

53.12048, -4.11513

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NOTE: The above information is generated by third-party data provided by Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru National Slate Museum. © Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru National Slate Museum 2025.

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