© Alun John Richards, 1998. Excerpted from: The Slate Quarries of Pembrokeshire Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 0-86381-484-0 The Slate Quarries of Pembrokeshire


DANDDERWEN (Whitland Abbey, Tan y Dderwen) SN126269 & 127268

The early history and the date of opening of these two adjoining diggings which included both ‘Green’ and ‘Blue’ veins is unclear, but 127268 or Lower Dandderwen was almost certainly working in the 18th century and possibly before that. It was let by a D. Hughes in 1863 to John Davies, H. Ledgard and others, at a £75 p.a. dead rent with no royalty. Curiously the lease stated that the rent would be reduced to £50 if the quality of the slate was not found to be ‘Equal or better than Abereiddi’.

The following year they leased the Upper, Flag, quarry from Joseph Thomas at a rent of £200 p.a. (half rent for the first year). The vein was said to be small but capable of yielding a good quality slab.

Perhaps because Davies had yet to discover that selling quarries was more profitable than working them, the syndicate seems to have operated them without attempting to float a company. It cannot have lasted long since by 1866 their manager Thomas Nicholas had moved to Vagur. As the advertisement of 1868 shows, John Muscott had by then taken over and on the strength of slates unearthed in 1855 on the site of Whitland Abbey being identified as of Eastern Cleddau origin, was pushing the rather tenuous connection.

SLATES AND PAVING

The Whitland Abbey Slate Co have always on sale at their wharf at Narberth Road station a quantity of their green and blue slate slab, good durable paving at 2/6d (12½p) per yard. For particulars apply to Mr John Muscott, Cilfaufawr Narberth.

Muscott was succeeded by his son, John junior who having rented the Dandderwen estate ran both workings; expanding the Upper, laying an appreciable run of internal tramway. He successfully pioneered the marketing of the eastern Cleddau Green slate as a premium price speciality product becoming the leading producer. By 1876 he was publishing a price list:

WHITLAND ABBEY GREEN SLATES.

Delivered free into trucks at Clynderwen station 7/- per ton
Railway rate to Paddington 13/4d per ton

These prices per mil of 1200 approximated to north Wales Bests, but were four times the weight, thus cartage of 35p and carriage 67p, added £4.50 per mil to the London cost of the largest size. The claimed coverage, incidentally was for the usual 3″ lap.

In 1883 in spite of the dull market Muscott interested five Swansea businessmen and J.R. Bishop of Pembroke in floating Whitland Abbey Slate as a limited company with an authorised capital of £25,000. To strengthen his hand he had a number of reports made which differ from the usual ‘reports’ as they seem to have been made by genuinely independent persons. The one produced by David Smith a Birmingham engineer strongly criticised the transport arrangements —

‘I find your cost of Carriage by Horse Teams to the Great Western Railway, amounts to £0.17s.6d (87.5p) per thousand upon your principal size 20-in. by 10-in. This charge so materially adds to the cost of these Green Slates as to prevent in many cases their adoption in preference to other Green Slates of inferior quality.’

He went on to suggest a 3 mile railway to the Maenclochog Railway, stating that -

‘The cost of carriage will be reduced by fifteen shillings (75p) per thousand on your 20-in. by 10-in. size. And further it will also prevent a breakage occasioned by unloading, reloading and breakage in transit to the G.W. R. amounting to 5 per cent, or a total saving of £1.5s.0d. (£.1.25) per thousand.’

Considering the state of roads at the time, a few mules in a cart producing a 5% breakage was not unreasonable. However his claim that ’3130 thousand’ slates had been produced in two years working was less credible, inferring an annual output of around 4000 tons, not counting slab. He stated that the river could provide 80 hp of water power for —

‘Raising slates, sawing window sills, chimney pieces, facings for windows and doorways, and especially corner stones for buildings.’

In addition to the mention of power, a tunnel was also recommended, ‘To drain the large Blue Vein and the two large Green Veins’. This inferred pit working, which could not have gone to any great depth as even the upper quarry was only a few feet above river level.

Costs of the machinery, turbine etc. were estimated to be £2,500 and the railway £7,500, with £3,000 required for working capital.

Smith put some emphasis on ‘Corner Stones’ as an intended mainstream product. This may have been a perception that more of such items were needed for a building than sills and so on, or it may have suggested that he had no great opinion of the slab quality. However .there were several testimonials to the durability of the products. The Rev. R.B. Jones, Vicar of Killymaenllwryd said that there was a momument in his churchyard dated 1769 with the letters ‘as distinct and clear and unaffected by weather or climate as if they had been cut a few months ago’, adding that 18th century stones were also to be seen at Henllan and Glanrhyd. Others included a letter stating that the slates on Gloucester Asylum, ‘— give entire satisfaction’. Another from a merchant referring to slates for Keble College Oxford was more guarded saying ‘We have heard no complaint of quality’. A correspondent spoke of those on Camrose church, ‘They look well and pleased me very much’. Others praised roofs on Abergavenny and Avebury churches. Yet another said that ‘To my mind the Green colour is infinitely superior to the ordinary Blue slate; and I must add that the roof of my house is greatly admired’. Quaintly, it was said of a Pelcombe Architect that, ‘He likes them thick’.

Little is known about the company’s activities, other than that John Muscott acted as manager. They should have picked up business from Gilfach which was going through a bad patch but were clearly in serious trouble in January 1886 when Muscott wrote to C.E.G. Philips of Picton Castle.

I take the liberty of informing you that I have reduced the price of these Green Slates by 40% bringing them down to the level of North Wales Slates, whilst the latter are brought to our very doors for instance to Maenclochog Mill), our own men are starving and our local trade ruined. Of course I know you have a perfect right to use what Slates you may think proper, I believe that if you could be convinced you could have an article of local production as good as anything you could get elsewhere, you would instantly give that the preference, and thereby increase your popularity. Well, I can fearlessly tell you that I can supply you with this article, and I do hope you will kindly give me some support this year. I also have large quantities of first class Window Sills and Slabs, Corner Stones &c. Trusting you will excuse my writing direct to you.

To have been asking two thirds above north Wales prices suggests a robust optimism on Mr Muscott’s part and that he was quite out of touch with the extent the market had fallen over the previous eight or nine years. It is no wonder that Mr Philips was going elsewhere for slate for his estate!

The company was wound up the following year with none of Smith’s suggestions for transport or power implemented. When shortly afterwards, the freehold of Dandderwen farm was sold, the Lower quarry was described as having four buildings, the largest being without a roof.

In 1890 with the market improving, Muscott and his brother George reopened but they faced both increasing competition and working difficulties. They continued on a diminishing scale for a few years before offering the quarry, for sale. It was bought by Alfred Pritchard in 1896 who may have sold it on to John Absalom in 1908, but almost certainly neither worked it.

Remains: Lower quarry is just a face with little trace of buildings. Upper quarry is very much larger, gently sloping into a pit as the gradual north westerly dip of the veins was followed, rendering overburden removal increasingly onerous. The working is dry but no drainage tunnel has been located. Nor, due to the site being so heavily overgrown, has it been possible to determine if there is any evidence of the several small buildings which maps show. There is a small subsidiary face at 125268 which was possibly the site of the earliest work. Although it is believed that sandsaws may have been used at one time, all sawn ends found are hand toothed-sawn.

Excerpted from: Richards, Alun John. 1998. The Slate Quarries of Pembrokeshire Gwasg Carreg Gwalch.
The Slate Quarries of Pembrokeshire

© Alun John Richards, 1998.