Railway Tunnel Portal is a Grade II listed building in the Gwynedd local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 1 February 1996. House.
Railway Tunnel Portal
- WRENN ID
- eternal-plaster-fog
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Gwynedd
- Constituency
- Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP: Liz Saville Roberts (PC)
- Country
- Wales
- Date first listed
- 1 February 1996
- Type
- House
- Address
- Railway Tunnel Portal, Llechwedd Slate Mine, Ffestiniog
- OS grid reference
- SH 696 469
- Coordinates
- 53.0038, -3.9434
- Source
- Cadw listing
Description
The railway tunnel portal, dated 1879, was constructed for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) at the entrance of the Blaenau Tunnel. It was designed by engineer W. Smith, whose name is displayed on a date plaque above the entrance arch.
The portal features a broad semi-circular arch set within a tapered and pedimented structure. It is made of snecked, rough-dressed stone, with clearly defined voussoirs and a simple arch ring. Above the arch, the pediment includes a central recessed slate date plaque and is topped with a dentillated cornice. On either side of the entrance, there are stepped and angled retaining walls.
This structure is listed for its special interest as a 19th-century railway tunnel portal and for its group value with other listed items at the former Llechwedd railway sidings.
Local climate
Railway Tunnel Portal sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,370 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 96% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 93% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 49 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 90% of listed buildings. Of these, 29 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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