Wales’ Snowdonia slate landscape gains Unesco World Heritage List status

Area is famed as home of industry that roofed much of the 19th Century world

The slate landscapes of north-west Wales has been added to the illustrious World Heritage List.

Stonehenge, Avebury and associated sites were added to the Unesco World Heritage List in 1986.

Hadrian's Wall in Scotland, once a frontier of the Roman Empire, is included on the World Heritage List.

Caernarfon Castle was included in 1986 as part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd, Wales.

The Severn River passes through Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, another Unesco World Heritage Site, on its way to the sea in Bristol.

The mines at Botallack in Cornwall, England are included in the World Heritage List as part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape entry.

Durham Castle and Cathedral have been on the heritage list since 1986.

The Forth Bridge in Fife, Scotland, was designed by two English engineers, Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, and built by Sir William Arrol of Glasgow.

Unesco lists the Heart of Neolithic Orkney in Scotland, as a World Heritage Site, which includes the settlement at Skara Brae, pictured.

Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Saltaire in Yorkshire, England, is a Victorian model village.

The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland is listed, along with the surrounding Causeway Coast.

Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, England.

The Dorset and East Devon Coast, including Durdle Door, pictured, is included on the list.

Canterbury Cathedral in England.

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape in Wales.

Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England.

The East Silk Mill in Derbyshire. England, part of the Derwent Valley Mills listing.

The English Lake District in Cumbria.

Bath, in England, is included in the Great Spas of Europe.

Jodrell Bank Observatory in Chesire, England, features the 3,200 tonne Lovell telescope.

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal in Wales.

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London are popular with local and international visitors.

New Lanark, Scotland, is considered a milestone in urban planning and development.

Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey in London.

City of Bath, England.

Maritime Greenwich in London.

The isolated St Kilda archipelago is in the North Atlantic, off Scotland.

A Beefeater and raven at the Tower of London.

The slate landscapes of north-west Wales were on Wednesday added to the illustrious World Heritage List.

Snowdonia’s ashen and craggy landscapes join such world-renowned sites as the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and Machu Picchu on the UN register.

Three prestigious sites closer to home are the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Blaenavon Industrial Landscape and the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd.

The UK now has 33 sites on the list in total, some of which are depicted in the gallery. It would have been 34 but Liverpool's historic waterfront was recently stripped of its status amid concerns it was overdeveloped.

The World Heritage Committee convened in China this week to adjudicate the merits of the slate quarries and a host of other contenders. It had already inscribed 30 new sites before the slate landscapes anointment, while the Great Spas of Europe, the Dutch Water Defence Lines in the Netherlands and the Trans-Iranian Railway were added earlier in the year.

The committee assesses bids on their outstanding universal value, uniqueness and cultural, historical or physical significance.

The Welsh slate landscape is found in the picturesque Snowdonia National Park. Getty

Slate’s significance in Wales rivals that of coal. The Welsh slate industry was the undisputed world leader in the 18th Century, at one stage accounting for almost half of the income in the north of the country.

In the 19th Century the industry was said to have roofed the world, but slates use in construction far predates this period. The Romans used the metamorphic rock to build a fort at Segontium, Caernarfon, in 77 AD.

It was also used in buildings such as Westminster Hall, the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne and Copenhagen City Hall in Denmark.

Those behind the successful bid, which has been 15 years in the making, were keen to emphasise that it is about more than the “remains of the slate industry”.

“It’s also about ... the role the industry played with Welsh language with the communities, the money that flowed through this to then invest in north Wales itself,” Luke Potter, assistant director of National Trust Cymru, told BBC Radio Wales.

Snowdonia: a planet for Hollywood

Whilst aesthetics aren’t a primary criterion for World Heritage inscription, the landscapes of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Llanberis, Bethesda and the Nantlle Valley were noted for their “breathtaking beauty” by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson when the bid was announced last year.

They’ve also caught the eye of Hollywood, with scenes from Harry Potter, Robin Hood, Clash of the Titans and Tarzan all shot there.

It also has a link to the world’s most famous locomotive – Thomas the Tank Engine.

The stories of the spirited steam engine were inspired by writer the Rev W Awdry’s time as as a volunteer at Talyllyn Railway in the 1950s.

The narrow-gauge railway was used to transport slate through Snowdonia before becoming the world’s first preserved railway in 1951.

This train at Tan-y-Bwlch station on the Ffestiniog Railway, Snowdonia, would have one been of many used to transport slate. Getty

UK's 33 Unesco World Heritage Sites

1. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape (2000)
2. Blenheim Palace (1987)
3. Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey and St Martin's Church (1988)
4. Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd (1986)
5. City of Bath (1987)
6. Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (2006)
7. Derwent Valley Mills (2001)
8. Dorset and East Devon Coast (2001)
9. Durham Castle and Cathedral (1986)
10. Frontiers of the Roman Empire
11. Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast (1986)
12. Gough and Inaccessible Islands (1995, 2004)
13. Gorham's Cave Complex (2016)
14. Heart of Neolithic Orkney (1999)
15. Henderson Island (1988)
16. Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda (2000)
17. Ironbridge Gorge (1986)
18. Jodrell Bank Observatory (2019)
19. Maritime Greenwich (1997)
20. New Lanark (2001)
21. Old and New Towns of Edinburgh (1995)
22. Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret's Church (1987)
23. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal (2009)
24. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2003)
25. Saltaire (2001)
26. St Kilda (1986, 2004, 2005)
27. Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites (1986)
28. Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey (1986)
29. The English Lake District (2017)
30. The Forth Bridge (2015)
31. The Great Spa Towns of Europe (2015)
32. Tower of London (1988)
33. Welsh Slate Landscape (2021)