Operating times
About us
Careers
News
Community liaison
Community support

Criggion quarry is located at Breidden Hill on the mid-Wales border between Powys and Shropshire.

The quarry and its onsite asphalt plant supplies materials that are predominantly used for road construction in the north-west of England.

Around 20 people are employed at Criggion across the aggregates and asphalt and business lines, as well as many more across our supply chain of contractors and support staff. 

We actively support local initiatives and programmes which benefit our local community and environment including cash and material donations.
 

Contact us

For all enquiries, please email criggionquarry@uk.heidelbergmaterials.com 

Become a supplier

Click here to request information about how to become a supplier.
 

Operating times

Our normal operating hours, unless otherwise agreed with Powys County Council, are as follows:

  • The quarry is open Monday to Friday from 06:00 to 16:40.
  • The asphalt plant is open from Monday to Thursday from 05:00 to 22:00 and Friday from 05:00 to 17:00.

Closed on weekends, public and bank holidays. 

The quarry may open on Saturday with prior arrangement.

Blasting

Blasting usually takes place once a month at Criggion. Our permissions allow blasting Monday to Friday between 09:00 and 16:00 and on Saturday between 10:00 and 13:00.
 

Heavy goods
vehicle hours

Loaded vehicles can enter and leave the site Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 22:00. All other traffic is permitted 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

The site is generally closed on Sundays, Public and bank holidays, but may be opened subject to prior agreement with the Powys County Council.
 

About Criggion quarry

Quarrying began at Criggion in 1866 to supply stone for cobbling the streets of Manchester and other cities. 

The quarry was initially a single 600 foot face, making it one of the highest quarries in Britain. Quarrymen extracted stone from narrow ledges, secured by ropes and using compressed air drills. The last person to use this method retired in 2008.

Criggion is one of the few quarries in the country to use a gravity rock pass, sending aggregates down a 50 degree shaft to a conveyor which sends it for processing. 

It is also a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) for its rare flora and recognised as an ancient monument due to the remains of an iron age fort at its summit.

View a timeline of Criggion quarry events

1866 – Production starts at Criggion Quarry, aided by a railway link.

1912 – The quarry’s product market shifted from road sets to crushed road stone using steam-driven processing plant.

1928 – Ceiriog Granite Company merges to form the British Quarrying Company.

1947 – British Quarrying Company merges with ARC.

1959 – The railway link is decommissioned and makes way for more roadgoing lorries.

1967 – The quarry was worked as a single, 600-foot-high face, using hand-held compressed air drills operated by men on ropes.

1967 – The quarry face was reconfigured into a series of benches, a new method of quarrying.

1973 – The quarry reaches its peak output of 350,000 tonnes a year.

1979 – A large shaft was drilled through the hill, reducing the effects from dump truck traffic, with a primary crusher at the top to aid production.

1990 – The asphalt plant was built and commissioned to work alongside the quarry.

1999 – The quarry ownership changed from ARC to Hanson.

2007 – Hanson becomes a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement.

2023 – Hanson rebrands to become Heidelberg Materials.

Careers

We operate more than 300 manufacturing sites in the UK and employ over 4,000 people, offering a variety of careers and development opportunities. 

Visit our careers website

Join Heidelberg Materials UK

We operate more than 300 manufacturing sites in the UK and employ over 4,000 people, offering a variety of careers and development opportunities. 

These include a wide range of roles from production workers, plant operatives, engineers, technicians and drivers to sales, IT, finance and HR managers. 
Our graduate programme for specialists in engineering, geology, marketing or a STEM related discipline, offers a structured two-year programme based in a variety of locations across the UK. 

We also provide various apprenticeships, giving you the opportunity to earn while you learn and the opportunity to secure valuable industry qualifications.

These include our three-year higher apprenticeship programme, which offers the first steps towards various careers in our sector from site supervisors to quantity surveying, and other apprenticeships for roles including plant operators and mechanical engineers.

For more on our graduate, apprenticeship programmes, career opportunities and our current vacancies and details on how to apply visit our careers website.

Visit our careers website

Promoting minerals industry careers to students at Shropshire school

Lucy Dalton from our Criggion quarry took part in a Career Detectives morning at Church Streeton School to showcase careers and opportunities to young people.

Students were asked to guess the job and career route of nine individuals from local businesses before Lucy had the opportunity to promote our industry.

Read more

Hydrogen fuelled net zero asphalt production trial takes major step forward

Plans for hydrogen-fuelled net zero asphalt production at scale at our Criggion asphalt plant in mid-Wales have taken a major step forward. 

The groundbreaking project, part of our commitment to decarbonise our production processes, is looking into using nuclear power derived hydrogen to create zero-emission asphalt.
 

Read more

Community liaison

We are committed to open communication about our operations and discussing local issues and projects through our liaison group committee.

The liaison group committee includes members from various interested parties, such as representatives from Powys County Council, Flintshire County Council, Llandrinio and Ardleen Community Council, National Resources Wales (NRW) and nearby residents.

If you are interested in representing your community on this group, please get in touch with us at penmaenmawrquarry@uk.heidelbergmaterials.com 
 

Documents and reports

Site Biodiversity Action Plan - Criggion Quarry 564.51 KB

Supporting the community

As a responsible operator, we want to play our part in supporting communities where we operate as well as protecting and enhancing the local environment. 

We welcome visits from schools, colleges, scouts, guides and other groups to our site, host open days and support various projects in the community we operate.

This includes annual quarry tours in collaboration with the Penmaenmawr museum.

In addition, local charities and community groups have benefitted from the donation of money, materials and time, through our employee volunteering days.

Our approach is to prioritise support for initiatives:

  • Promoting education, skills and wellbeing
  • Protecting and/or enhancing the environment 
  • Supporting biodiversity and sustainability 
  • Promoting the community and heritage of the area

Financial and materials donations are prioritised to groups from those within a three-mile radius of Criggion quarry and voluntary work within 10 miles of our site.

Request a donation

Click here to request a financial or materials donation or voluntary support. Please tell us about your group and/or project, what type of support you are seeking and how your project’s aims align with our priorities above.

Recent beneficiaries

  • Highfield School in Wolverhampton – 20 tonnes of aggregates
  • Guilsfield County Primary School near Welshpool – 10 tonnes of aggregates
     
Request a donation