A Brief History of Llanddulas Quarry & Jetty:

Quarrying in Llanddulas was first recorded in 1696 although this was further to the east of what we now know as Llanddulas Quarry.
The stone was used primarily for building material both locally and further afield, including Liverpool. Stone to be transported by boat would be taken by horse and cart and loaded by hand into boats beached at low tide.

The first records of a jetty to serve Llanddulas Quarry date back to 1822 and it was connected by a rail track to the north east corner of the flooded quarry at the front of the site (now known as the silt lagoons).In 1839 as demand for building stone grew, quarrying progressed both inland and to the west and a new jetty was built in 1842 at the location now occupied by the present one.

The coastal railway line was laid in 1849 and a railway siding to serve the quarry was installed soon after.

In 1874 a lime kiln and crusher were built, the crusher being driven by steam. The water reservoir and stem boiler were located where the front entrance to the site is now. Also located here was the cable drum that was used to facilitate the movement of rail mounted tubs between the quarry and the jetty. This drum haulage system was simple but effective and enabled empty tubs to be pulled back up the steep incline by the energy created by loaded tubs attached to the cable loop descending the incline.

As demand for limestone products for the chemical and iron smelting industries grew so the ability to load bigger ships more quickly and efficiently became necessary. To achieve this the large reinforced concrete structure built on the foreshore at the end of the jetty and known as the beach silo was built in 1940. This enabled large volumes of various materials such as limestone dust or cobs to be stored close at hand to assist with rapid loading of ships.

Although it is not known for certain when the drum haulage system was introduced its use lasted until 1947 when a new wooden jetty was built with conveyor belts to carry the limestone products from the quarry via the beach silo to the jetty for loading onto ships.

In the late 1950s and into the 1960s markets in the Scandinavian countries, Holland, Belgium and Germany were opened up and many millions of tonnes of limestone products for a variety of uses were exported. In the early 1980's the A55 Expressway was built and at this time the jetty was extended by 100 feet to enable larger ships to berth.

Source: notes supplied by the Waste Recycling Group, September 2011. RFS/RCAHMW/2011

[Additional:]
Currently owned by Waste Recycling Group with no active quarrying but some landfill. Consent has been granted for the demolition of the jetty, conveyor and supports, and 3 buildings associated with the operation of the conveyor. These structures were photographed by RCAHMW in August 2011 in advance of demolition. A report (level 2 survey) by Gerry Martin Associates has been deposited in the NMRW.

R.F. SUGGETT/RCAHMW/SEPT 2011