The abandoned village was once home to 2,000 people who worked at the nearby Quarry – but in 1927, they were all relocated to a brand new village, leaving their old home to be reclaimed by nature
The slate quarry’s decline saw the village crumble(Image: Getty)
An entire village was created after all 2,000 of its residents were forced to up sticks and relocate. All that remains of what was once a bustling community are buildings completely reclaimed by nature, smothered in moss and vegetation.
The deserted village of Talysarn, nestled in the Nantlle Valley of Gwynedd, North Wales, is a former settlement that has been slowly swallowed up by the earth as the years have passed. It was once home to workers and industrial buildings serving the nearby Dorothea Quarry slate mine.
Throughout the 19th century, these mines provided a vital source of income for thousands of people across Wales, but as the quarries expanded, the village was forced to grow alongside them. Eventually, when 1927 arrived, the decision was taken to move thousands of residents to a brand new village built from scratch.
By the 1840s, production at Dorothea had climbed to a remarkable 5,000 tonnes annually, but output would soon soar even higher. By the 1870s, that figure had surged to more than 17,000 tonnes — well over three times what had been produced just 30 years earlier.
Despite the quarry’s seemingly promising future, it was plagued by severe flooding problems. This was tragically highlighted in 1884, when several men lost their lives after the pit was overwhelmed by water while they were working on site.
In response, the river was realigned and deepened to better manage the flow, and while this resolved the issue temporarily, it would go on to cause further problems further down the line. To combat the problem, a Cornish beam engine was constructed on the site to replace the waterwheels, and it still stands there to this day.
Indeed, this is one of the abandoned village’s most impressive sights — a towering structure with its original machinery still intact.
Another focal point of the old village is its 18th-century hall, which has remained untouched since 1946 and now stands as an ivy-covered building, heavily daubed with graffiti, its brickwork slowly crumbling away.
The abandoned village as a whole has become a hugely popular destination for avid explorers and walkers eager to unearth its secrets and snap an eerie photograph of the overgrown ruins. Today, the site sits within the UNESCO Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales and is protected as a piece of history, frozen in time.
Wild Guide Wales author Daniel Start wrote about what remains of the site, likening the ruins to a Welsh Angkor Wat. He said: “Only the baboons are missing. It’s a vast, wild site with many fascinating, overgrown ruins, including a Cornish beam engine and the overgrown remains of the chapel at Plas Talysarn.”
The quarry finally closed in 1970 and has since flooded, creating a lake reportedly exceeding 100m in depth in certain areas. This too forms part of the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales World Heritage Site.
One visitor left spellbound by the village’s remnants is photographer Tony Harnett, who runs the website Gems of Snowdonia. He previously told WalesOnline: “I’d seen photos of Plas Talysarn and knew it was an interesting place, but I thought that’s all there was.
“When I went there, I did not expect to find so many other old buildings in the area. Some I just stumbled across, others I could see in the distance but didn’t have time to visit.
“I arrived late in the day, for the golden hour for photography, so I only had two hours there. But I could easily have stayed for the whole day, there’s so much to explore.”