People have mined the metals harboured within Parys Mountain since the Bronze Age. The mineral had spewed out of a volcano that formed this ppart of Wales and, certainly, it does feel like walking around a crater. A mass of copper ore was discovered there in the late 1760s leading to large scale mining. It became known as the ‘Copper Kingdom’.
The Parys Mountain Windmilll was built in 1878 by Captain Hughes in order to supplement power from an adjacent steam engine. The power was used to assist pumping water from the Parys Mountain workings, but also to power lifting machinery for both the miners and the ore in the Cairns shaft. The windmill was closed in 1904, when working at the mined ceased.
