my personal reflection on Dolaucothi 
On Thursday the 19th of October I went to the Dolaucothi gold mines in Carmarthenshire as part of my course named exploring the humanities. Within this block we also went to other places including strata florida, st faggans and llanerchaeron however as I am studying ancient history the one that I enjoyed the most was Dolaucothi so it is the one I am writing about.

Dolaucothi can be located near Pumsaint which is a small village in the hills of Carmarthenshire. The main entrance is situated within an open pit mine but when you take the beautiful pathways you can find a number of underground mines. Within these mines there is evidence that the Romans once mined there. It is believed that the Romans were there between 70 and 80CE. Evidence suggests that it was the Romans that dug these underground mines also known as adits. As well as these mines the Romans also dug huge open pits to extract the gold in that manner. By doing these things the Romans changed the landscape quite significantly. As well as the new holes that they had created there was also the mounds of dirt and rock which had been excavated from within the hills. The romans potentially also created various ways of stopping and rerouting the water coming down from the hills which would have affected the landscape. (national trust, no date) Between 70AD and 80AD the Romans began the first extensive mining of Dolaucothi creating large open-cast workings and digging several tunnels (adits) to exploit the gold veins. This period of mining will have altered the physical landscape of Dolaucothi beyond all recognition. The Romans tunnelled their mines using a combination of heat created with bonfires,  pickaxes and water. (national trust, no date) Some of the original pick-marks, which are almost 2,000 years old, can still be seen in the adits whilst on the tour alongside the remains of the leat channels and water tanks that were used to bring water in for purposes of scouring away the topsoil and washing the crushed ore. 
The Romans invaded this area for the purpose of the gold situated at Dolaucothi, however we do not know how they knew about this gold. Upon arriving they built a fort a few hundred feet from the mines which they used to look over Dolaucothi. (national trust, no date) No one knows how the Romans first found or heard about Dolaucothi, although we do know that their trade routes extended into Wales, yielding the precious metals was a reason for their invasion.We also know that they established a fort in an area that now encompasses the village of Pumsaint soon after arriving in Carmarthenshire around 70AD and began mining shortly after. After the mines were put out of use the fort was still used as a military fort until 125AD when it was used as a civilian fort for a number of centurys. (National Trust, no date) The Roman military fort was largely abandoned in 125AD when it became a civilian fort with evidence of continuing activity in the area thanks to discoveries of Roman coins dating back to the late 4th century.
Once the Romans left Dolaucothi in 125AD it appears as though it remained unused for a number of years. (national trust, no date) Once the vestiges of Roman occupation disappeared from Dolaucothi, the knowledge and usage of the gold mine apparently disappeared with them.
As the klondike gold rush was occurring in the north western Canada and the gold mines were starting up in south Africa in the late 19th century, attention was once again cast on Dolaucothi. (national trust, no date) The next significant period of mining was in the Victorian/Edwardian age, around the turn of the 20th century, at the same time as the first South African gold mines and the famous Klondike Gold Rush.
The mine was taken over by a company named The South Wales Gold Mining Company in 1888. The mines were charted to this company by the Johnes’ who owned the land that the mines were on. There was however very little gold within the mines resulting in the venture being too costly due the methods of mining at the time. (national trust, no date) The South Wales Gold Mining Company was founded by a lead miner from Edward Jones to sublet the mines from the Johnes family who owned the estate in 1888. Hoping to make his fortune, unfortunately for him there was only a small proportion of gold in the ore being mined which made the operation too expensive to be worthwhile.
Dolaucothi mines were reopened a few years later in 1905 when the Johnes family employed James Mitchell to begin mining there. Due to costs once more the mines were deserted by 1912. 
My experience of Dolaucothi was a very pleasant one. When walking around I could tell that it was in fact although still national trust far more authentic than the other places we had been too. The mines were unchanged and I believe that added more to the experience than the fakery at some of the other trips. Being an ancient history student I enjoyed learning about the roman history at the site and our two tour guides were very good at going into lots of depth on everything to do with the mines. These tour guides were much better also as their descriptions of everything felt much more real than at other places where it seems as though they are simply reading from a script.