Port Penrhyn

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Port Penrhyn (Welsh Porth Penrhyn) is a harbour located just east of Bangor in north Wales at the mouth of the River Cegin. It was formerly of great importance as the main port for the export of slate from the Penrhyn Quarry, the largest slate quarry in the world.

Slate exports from Port Penrhyn are recorded from 1713 when 14 shipments totalling 415,000 slates were sent to Dublin. In 1720, there were 8 shipments totalling 155,000 slates to Dublin, two to Drogheda (20,000 slates) and one to Belfast (35,000 slates), and in 1722 a shipment of 80,000 slates to Dunkirk. The port expanded after Richard Pennant took over the ownership of the Penrhyn estate and appointed Benjamin Wyatt as agent in 1786. A stone wharf was built in 1790 and a tram line from the quarry to the port opened in 1798. In 1801 this was replaced by a railway line, the Penrhyn Quarry Railway, following a different route. The port was extended in 1829-30 and again in 1855, when a breakwater was built on the eastern side.

The port is now used by coastal vessels up to about 3000 metric tons of deadweight (DWT) and by fishing vessels. There are plans for expansion.