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Llandudno (Llan-Dudno) - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
LLANDUDNO (LLAN-DUDNO), a parish, in the union of Conway, hundred of Creuddyn, county of Carnarvon, North Wales, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Conway; containing 1047 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the shore of the Irish Sea, and comprises the promontory called by the Welsh Gogarth, and by the English Great and Little Orme's Heads. It is bounded on the north and west by the Irish Sea; on the south by the estuary of the river Conway; and is connected with the main land, on the east, by a narrow isthmus of sand, intersected by a small valley, through which the tide formerly flowed, thus nearly insulating it. The parish comprises, besides mountain sheep-walks, a considerable portion of arable and pasture land, some of which is well adapted to the growth of wheat. The bay of Llandudno is one of the finest bays on this coast, extending, in the form of a crescent, from the base of the promontory to the Lesser Orme's Head, without interruption, and affording excellent and secure shelter to shipping during heavy gales. It was lately proposed to convert this bay into an asylum-harbour, by the name of St. George's Harbour; but Holyhead being found by government to be more advantageous, the design was abandoned. Llandudno is resorted to for sea-bathing.
The north side of Great Orme's Head is broken into craggy precipices of various elevation, and, during the breeding season, is the resort of various aquatic birds, among which are the gull, the razorbill, the guillemot, the cormorant, the heron, and sometimes the peregrine falcon: these occupy respectively their several stations in the rocks, the gulls having the lowest and the herons the highest localities; and a small number of puffins is scattered indiscriminately in various places. The eggs of the razor-bill are esteemed a delicacy, and the sale of them, generally at two shillings per dozen, affords a livelihood to several families employed during the season in procuring them. The western side of the promontory is one vast precipice: the mountain extends into the plain above the village, forming a precipitous eminence, the summit of which is called Dinas, and is surrounded with a wall of loose stones, very rudely formed, within which are the foundations of numerous circular buildings, varying in diameter from twelve to thirty feet, and arranged round the west and south sides of the mountain. In the centre is a rocking-stone, called Crŷd Tudno, or the "cradle of St. Tudno;" and close to this is the "Needle's Eye," which is, of course, very narrow. Upon the extreme northern point of the eminence are the ruins of a large square building, of which parts of the walls, apparently constructed without mortar, lie scattered in various directions; it was a place of some consequence at one period, and the abode of monks, who had a chapel here, incorrectly stated as the Bishop of Bangor's palace: the sea has made great encroachments of late years. On the highest point of the promontory, and near the Great Orme's Head, a signal staff was erected, communicating with Llŷsvaen on the east, and with the island of Priestholme on the west, and forming a post in the line of telegraph communication between Liverpool and Holyhead. In some parts the mountain, which is about five miles in circumference, affords good pasturage for sheep; and near the summit are some extensive copper-mines, from which about 3000 tons of ore, of a very pure quality, are raised annually and sent off for the purpose of being smelted: another mine has been opened at the bottom of the hill on the east, which is worked by a spirited company; and the copper-ore obtained is very valuable and of the best kind: the aggregate number of hands employed in the two mines is about 300. The mountain consists of alternate beds of chert and limestone, uniformly dipping from every side to a common centre, where the great mass of ore lies. In the mines is found a considerable variety of mineral curiosities, such as beautiful specimens of malachite, or green carbonate of copper, &c.
This place is the head of the great manor granted by Edward I. to the see of Bangor, and is one of the four parishes in the county which are in the east side of the river Conway. The living is a perpetual curaey, endowed with £400 royal bounty, and £1600 parliamentary grant; net income, £120 per annum; patrons, the Bishop of Bangor, and the Archdeacon of Merioneth. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £226. 11., and there is a glebe of four acres and a half. The old church, dedicated to St. Tudno, is about two miles distant from the village, and situated on the summit of the cliffs, overhanging the sea; it contained 450 sittings, and is supposed to have been built at two different periods, part it is said by St. Tudno, the founder, who escaped from the massacre at Bangor-Iscoed. This ancient structure has of late been abandoned, and is every year becoming more ruinous; a new edifice has been erected in the now growing village, at the foot of the promontory. Two coffin slabs, ornamented with highly decorated crosses flory, have been disinterred from beneath the flooring of the old church; they are formed of blue stone, apparently a kind of slate, and the foliated ornaments, which cover the entire surface, are carved in low relief. These remains were probably brought from the monastery at Gogarth, after the monks had quitted it; and according to tradition, a fine screen that was until recently to be seen in the old church, had been brought from the same place. There are places of worship for Baptists and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. Two schools are provided for the poor, namely, a British school, established in the year 1844, and a Church school, established in May 1846; they are supported by subscriptions and school-pence, and the latter has also an endowment of £3 per annum, the produce of £100 lying in the North and South Wales Bank. Three Sunday schools are likewise held, one of them in connexion with the Church, one belonging to the Calvinistic body, and the third to the Baptists. Lewis Owen, Esq., in 1623, left one-eighth part of the tithes of Conway for clothing poor old men and women, above sixty years of age, the portion for this parish varying from £10 to £18 per annum. Richard ab Robert, prior to 1732, bequeathed £40, and Thomas Evans, about the same time, £20; the produce of the former is annually distributed among the poor on St. Thomas's day, but the latter gift has been lost for some time. The poor are also entitled to participate in the distribution of barley, beef, and cloth, charged on the domain of Gloddaeth in the parish of Eglwys-Rhôs.
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