This vast, undulating, pitted landscape of Parys Mountain Copper Mine in Anglesey has an ethereal quality, conjuring up visions of the surface of Mars or some distant moon, its yellow, orange, red and grey rocks interspersed with patches of rare lichen.
In the 19th century, a cache of wood, tools and charcoal was found here deep underground. Carbon dating later showed that the tools were produced during the Bronze Age, some 4,000 years ago; along with the deep tunnels bored through the mountain, they indicate the site’s long history.
It’s been mooted that the Romans mined metal ore here, but large-scale work didn’t start until the 1760s when local miner Rowland Pugh struck a rich lode of copper. As a reward, his bosses gave him a bottle of whisky and a house, rent-free, for life – not bad for a day’s work! By 1780, when the Industrial Revolution was gaining pace, work began in earnest at Parys Mountain, creating one of the largest copper mines in the world.
How can you visit Parys Mountain Quarry?
There’s a large, free car park at the site, just off the B5111
two miles south of Amlwch. A network of walks leads around the distinctive landscape, including a level route around the striking Great Opencast.
