Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Squared shaped box used for storing detonators at Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda.

Detonators (or ‘caps’ as they were known in the quarries) were used in the blasting of the rock face at slate quarries - they were placed at the end of a length of fuse. Detonators were commonly used with blasting gelatine to shatter the rock face. Black powder was more commonly used as it would gently heave the rock face, rather than break it into small pieces. Explosives, fuses and detonators for use in quarries were stored in specially built magazines, located at a number of isolated points within the quarries. This storage box was used in one of the powder magazines within Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda.