Harbour yard walls and gates to Greaves Wharf and Oakleys Wharf

Cadw's description

Location

Between The Oakleys and Wharf House, facing a lane behind Heol y Parc.

History

Porthmadog Harbour was developed from the 3rd decade of the C19, at first by landowner and improver William Madocks (1773-1828). The Act of Parliament for Porthmadog Harbour was passed in 1821 and by 1824 the new port was already ready to receive vessels of up to 70 tons (71.12 tonnes) laden. To comply with the provisions of the Act of Parliament, Madocks had a short stone quay built at Cornhill, which henceforth became the commercial centre of the port. Slate companies who purchased wharves were responsible for building their own quays.

Oakleys and Greaves Wharf was a single construction for John Greaves (who opened his own quarry in 1846) and the Rhiwbryfdir Slate Company (founded 1838) in the mid C19. The wharf is mentioned by Owen Morris in 1856. The wall was also constructed in the mid C19, on the outside of which ran narrow-gauge railways leading through gateways to the quayside. It is shown on the 1885 harbour survey and 1888 Ordnance Survey.

Exterior

A wall approximately 65m in overall length, in several sections and clearly of several phases. From the NE end is a rubble stone wall attached to the Oakleys, breached to make an entrance to Cwrt yr Harbwr, to the R of which the attached wall is curved and constructed of large blocks of coursed stone with stone coping and incorporating a pedestrian gate. Between Cwrt yr Harbwr and Wharf House are 3 sections with entrances defined by monolithic gate piers, of which the northernmost retains iron gates.

Reason for designation

Listed as boundary walls notable for their distinctive use of local stone, for their contribution to the setting of buildings on Greaves and Oakleys Wharf, and for their overall contribution to the historical integrity of Porthmadog harbour.