Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for LLANDUDNO

LLANDUDNO, a small town and a parish in Conway. district, Carnarvon. The town stands on the coast, between Great Orme's Head and Little Orme's Head, at the terminns of a short branch railway of the Chester and the Holyhead, 3½ miles N by E of Conway; was, so late as about 1841, only a very small village, roughly frequented by a few families for sea-bathing; is now a beautiful and fashionable watering place, rising rapidly into higher favour; possesses command of two bays, with different aspects, and with fine facilities for bathing in almost any weather; comprises a handsome crescent, curving round the shore of one of the bays, and parallel streets running across from it to the Conway sands; and has a head post office,‡ designated Llandudno, Carnarvonshire, a railway station with telegraph, four good hotels, a number of good lodging-houses, two churches, and several dissenting chapels. One of the churches is a modern erection, originally built in lieu of the ancient parochial one, situated on a neighbouring cliff The other church was founded in 1865; is situated near the railway station; is in the early decorated English style, of blue native limestone, with freestone and Bath stone dressings, and was designed to be cruciform, measuring 133 feet from E to W, 58 ¼ feet wide, and 83 feet along the transepts,- to have three entrances and a tower and spire, -and to cost about £7,000; but, in the first instance, was to be erected to the extent of only the nave and aisles, at a cost of £3,900. One of the dissenting chapels is for Independents, and was enlarged in 1865. Steamers from Liverpool, and sometimes steamers from Beaumaris and Carnarvon, call at the town; and measures were adopted in the autumn of 1865 for the erection of a pier, suited both for landing and embarking passengers, and for promenading. The town is sheltered on two sides by Great Orme's Head and Little Orme's Head, but is unsheltered in other directions; and it suffers the disadvantage of lying in a comparatively wild and rocky seclusion, with little or no greenery to relieve the eye; but it commands a charming walk, about 6 miles long, around Great Orme's Head, and is in the near neighbourhood of objects and places highly interesting to antiquaries and botanists. See ORME's HEAD.

The parish is divided into the townships of L. Lower and L. Upper. Acres, 2,729; of which 815 are water. Real property, £12,068; of which £353 are in mines. Pop. in 1801,318; in 1851,1,131; in 1861,2,316. The property is much subdivided. The manors belong to the Bishop of Bangor and the Mostyns. Copper mines are here, have long been worked, and are supposed to have been known to the Romans. A cave of Llanderdero mine, 120 feet long, was found, in 1849, to contain Roman benches and stone hammers. The ancient British fortress of Pen-y-Dinas overlooks the town, and still possesses portions of ancient wall, and numerous hut circles. A rocking-stone, called Cryd-Tudno, or the cradle of Tudno, is at one corner of the fortress; and remains of an avenue of standing-stones, called by a name which signifies "the High road of the deer," is near it. The living is a p. curacy, united with the chapelry of St. Tudno, in the diocese of Bangor. Value, £363 * Patron, the Archdeacon of Merioneth. The old parochial church, situated on the cliff, is supposed to occupy the site of an oratory of St. Tudno of the 7th century; was itself erected in the 12th century, but afterwards acquired a later English chancel; went eventually into neglect and dilapidation; was restored in 1855, at the expense of H. Reece of Birmingham; and contains two incised coffin-lids of the 13th century, and an ancient circular font. Charities, £14.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small town and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Llandudno Cum Eglwys Rhos AP/CP       Caernarvonshire AncC
Place: Llandudno

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