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Historical background

An unusual feature of the mines on Mynydd Parys was the practices of precipitating copper-rich waters which had been allowed to permeate through the mine or over the tips with scrap iron in large purpose built ponds to yield ore which could then be dried. This process outlasted the end of conventional mining in the 1880s, and continued until 1958.

Key historic landscape characteristics

Unique industrial features

The vast ponds survive all around the mountain, many of them still holding water. The best surviving examples are at Dyffryn Adda (SH 438 915), together with an ochre-drying floor and a kiln building dating to 1815-19. This area has been conserved by the Amlwch Industrial Heritage Trust. A small part of the Dyffryn Adda SAM falls into this area.

Remains of brick and timber built precipitation ponds at Dyffryn Adda Historical background