Sygun Copper Mine

Sygun Copper Mine is a Victorian copper mine that was closed in 1903 and was renovated and reopened by the Amies family as a tourist attraction in 1986, focusing on audio-visual tours of the underground workings.

Location

It is located about 2km outside of the village of Beddgelert in the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales.

Prince of Wales Award 1988

The Amies family was awarded the Prince of Wales Award for "the sensitive development of visitor facilities at Sygun Copper Mine" in 1988. The award was presented to the family by the Prince of Wales during an award ceremony.

Attractions

The Sygun complex also includes an art museum and art gallery, the Sygun Museum of Wales, and a Welsh mythology and Welsh history section, the Red Dragon Heritage Centre. [ [http://sygun-coppermine.co.uk/dragon.htm Red Dragon Heritage Centre] ] The museum has one of the largest art collections of any privately controlled museum in Great Britain, small portions being exhibited at various times throughout the year. The collection is split into two main departments, antique and 20th century. The antique department houses paintings dating from the 16th century until the end of the Victorian period. The 20th century department includes large collections of works by Hedley Carrington, Tom Keating, Roberto Valente, and Miney Todd.Fact|date=March 2007

In 2002 the mine and its subsidiaries were put up for sale on the retirement of the original developers. ["Welsh mining history up for sale with a pounds £450,000 price tag", Daily Post (Liverpool, England), Jul 31 2002] The following year its buyers began an ambitious building project funded in part by the sale of art and in part by the organisation's chairman.Fact|date=March 2007

Popular culture

The copper mine's original buildings, some of which still exist, were shown in the 1958 film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. [The copper cavern, Alun Pritchard, "Daily Post" (Liverpool), 22 March, 2003 (NewsBank UK, retrieved 30 June 2008)]

References

External links

* [http://www.syguncoppermine.co.uk Sygun Copper Mine]
* [http://www.wales-underground.org.uk/sygun/ Sygun Copper Mine - Wales Underground]
* [http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item10/28954 Aerial photographs of copper mines and works in Wales]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/mining/pages/sygun_slideshow.shtml BBC Wales feature on Sygun Copper Mine]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3047828 Sygun Copper Mine on www.geograph.co.uk : photos of the mine and surrounding area]