An abandoned Welsh village, relocated a century ago due to quarry expansion, is now being reclaimed by nature, with ruins including a Victorian mansion drawing comparisons to Angkor Wat. The village of Talysarn in Snowdonia was moved approximately one kilometre west as the slate industry expanded, leaving behind cottages, a villa, and other structures that remain visible today.
Among the ruins is Plas Talysarn, an 18th-century country house later extended into a Victorian villa. The site also includes a Cornish beam engine, a gothic chapel or folly, and remnants of the Nantlle horse tramway, which operated until the early 1960s. Photographer Tony Harnett, who runs the Gems of Snowdonia website, described his surprise at the extent of the ruins, saying he 'did not expect to find so many other old buildings in the area'.
Author Daniel Start likened the site to a 'Welsh Angkor Wat', calling it 'vast and wild' with many overgrown ruins. The village's relocation was driven by the expansion of the Dorothea quarry, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Locals still refer to the old road as Yr Hen Lon, or 'the old road', parts of which remain visible.
