Visiting the Dolaucothi Estate

Nature and wildlife at Dolaucothi

The gold mines and the estate offer opportunities to get up close and personal with wildlife, even the mines themselves contain an abundance of wildlife, from spiders to moths and bats and rare fascinating fungi.

Who lives in the mines?

The European Cave Spider (Meta menardi) are repelled by light and choose to live in dark places such as caves and disused mines. The underground workings of the old gold mines make ideal habitats for the spiders, but their camouflage (being dark brown and black the same as shale rock) means that they are tricky to spot.

They are there, high up in the darkest corners sitting on their finely woven spherical webs.

A haven for bats

Another visitor to the mines are the many different species of bats recorded at Dolaucothi, such as Common Pipistrelle, Greater Horseshoe, Soprano Pipistrelle, Noctule, Natterer’s Bat, Brown Long Eared Bat and Barbastelle.

It’s the Greater Horseshoe bat that we see most often in the mines, a bat with the body the size of a small pear and one of the largest British bat species.

A cool spot for summer

The mines provide a great space for the bats to hibernate in winter and escape to a cool spot in summer. The mine gates have horizontal bars allowing the bats to easily fly in and out.

Birdlife at Dolaucothi

There are birds everywhere at Dolaucothi, although they don't venture very far into the mines themselves.

Around the estate you’ll see nuthatches, pied wagtails, blackbirds, thrushes and a variety of tits, including long-tailed, as well as the swallows who return to nest every year. You may even be lucky enough to spot a tree-creeper or pied flycatcher. Listen out for Woodpeckers drumming as you enjoy the bird song.

Red kites and goshawks

Keep your eyes on the skies where buzzards and red kites often oblige with dazzling displays of aerobatics, you might even be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a goshawk.

Walking at Dolaucothi

Meandering through the estate and woodlands are a network of footpaths allowing you to explore everything from riverside walks in the Cothi Valley to the upland scenery of the surrounding hills.

Woodland restoration and management

We manage the woodlands to improve the habitat conditions within them. At Dolaucothi this has meant interventions when disease has struck and management of non-native invasive species and involvement in Celtic Rain Forest LIFE+ Project with the RSPB and Snowdonia National Park.

TWIG Project

At the beginning of 2024, the Dolaucothi Estate was awarded a sum of money from The Woodland Investment Grant (TWIG). This project is jointly funded by the Welsh Government and the National Lottery Heritage Fund and aims to create and enhance woodlands for local communities to use and enjoy.

Thanks to the TWIG project, we can tackle a large schedule of works across the Dolaucothi Estate.

These will include efforts at boosting local biodiversity, through the installation of Pine Marten and wildlife nesting boxes, and a programme of native species tree planting.

In addition to this focus on biodiversity, TWIG will also allow us to address improved access to the Dolaucothi Estate. You will notice improvements to walking trails, enhanced waymarking and new interpretation boards.