Unesco: Wales' slate landscape becomes a World Heritage Site
- Published
A bid was placed for the slate landscape to become a World Heritage Site
Wales' slate landscape, found in the north-west of Wales, has won status as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
A World Heritage Site is an area or landmark that is awarded special status for its natural or cultural significance in history.
After the successful bid, the landscape has become the 32nd site for the UK and will now join the likes of Egypt's pyramids and India's Taj Mahal on the long list of World Heritage Sites.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently backed the bid and said it was an "area of remarkable uniqueness and breath-taking beauty".
Slate is a type of rock which is used for things like roof tiles, flooring and even snooker tables.
Slate was cut out of the ground in quarries in Snowdonia, Gwynedd, it was then sold to people all around the world.
It was a really important industry in the area which provided jobs for lots of people. By the 1890s, the industry employed just less than 17,000 people and produced 485,000 tonnes of slate a year.
Slate is a really useful building material, here it has been used to make a wall
Wales' bid leader, Dafydd Wigley, who spoke to the committee from the National Slate Museum in Llanberis, said: "We look forward to being part of the wider community of World Heritage Sites".
The bid leader explained that this announcement will help recognise Wales' contribution to the world.
The area will be joining Stonehenge on the long list of UK World Heritage Sites
Wales' First Minister, Mark Drakeford, said: "Today's announcement recognises the significant contribution this part of North Wales has made to the cultural and industrial heritage not only of Wales, but of the wider world. Welsh slate can be found all over the world."
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is the tallest canal aqueduct in the world
The landscape will join the other three World Heritage Sites that are in Wales.
Castles and town walls that were built by King Edward I in Gwynedd are a World Heritage Site. They were given the status back in 1986 and were among the first sites to join the list from the UK.
Other sites given World Heritage Status in Wales are the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Blaenavon industrial landscape in Torfaen.
These four World heritage sites from Wales are part of the UK's long list of approved sites, which includes Stonehenge, Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire and Durham Castle and cathedral.
- Published18 November 2019
- Published8 July 2019
- Published23 July 2021
