Tintagel Slate Quarries

Gillow, Long Grass, Lambshouse, Gull Point, Dria, Bagalow and the northern part of Caroline are sea cliffs where the slate workfaces were already exposed and which have simply been cut into.

Working the cliff face quarries will have involved clearing away any surface material such as soil, grass and loose stones and dumping them in the sea.

This is a wooden frame with a pulley that is anchored at the strong point and operated by a donkey or horse walking in circles, often while blindfolded to avoid distractions.

Quarrying on the cliffs will have been a hazardous occupation with men suspended by ropes as they worked the vertical rock face.

The slate from the coastal quarries was dressed or split into thin, usable tiles in sheds at the top of the cliffs.

Most are in a ruinous state but the offices, powerhouse and smithy belonging to Long Grass quarry now serve as Tintagel's youth hostel.

Built in 1870, this once housed a Woolf compound beam engine that both pumped water out of the pit and hauled trucks of slate from the workings at nearby Bowithick quarry.

Despite many of them occupying a spectacular coastal location, there is currently no visitor centre, no tourists are directed here and the only informational signage in place is at the Prince of Wales site.