England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llandudno St Tudno

The Parish

The parish of Llandudno is a detached parish of the county of Caernarvonshire one of 4 such parishes that sit east of the Afon Conwy and in territory that logically should be part of Denbighshire. Llandudno is located roughly 4 miles north of the town of Conway and sits on the A546 road which links the two. Llandudno is a much grown place, at the time of this transcript it was merely a small fishing & mining village sitting between the headlands of the Great & Little Orme with a beautiful half-moon bay between the two. The original village sat on the southeastern side of the Great Orme and was largely engaged in mining the copper found on that headland, typical pastoral farming saw largely sheep on the land and the sea would have been exploited for its fish and transportation. The headland, itself is pock marked with both mine-shafts and also evidence of early settlement with burial mounds and, of course, the ancient "llan" of St Tudno's church. It was the Victorian era and funded by the visionary Mostyn family that saw modern Llandudno develop. Villas began to be built across the dunes to the east as early as the 1840s and the craze for sea bathing soon brought baths built under the eastern cliffs. Initially access was by steamer from, mainly Lancashire and Liverpool in particular, but the coming of the railway saw the town develop into what Pevsner terms as Wales' pre-eminent Victorian seaside resort and pre-eminent planned town. During this growth the parish population also soared. Today Llandudno remains one of the premier coastal resorts of Wales with an urban area almost filling the sweep of the bay and extending inland for almost a mile, its scenic drive around the Great Orme being a highlight. Modern developments arrived with its dedicated branch line from Llandudno Junction delivering visitors to within a few hundred yards of the sea and the delights of the Great Orme. As a coastal settlement Llandudno has many outlets to the sea both to the north through the bay but also westwards into the estuary of Afon Conwy. Llandudno is sited between sea level and 100 metres, the higher properties on the Great Orme, the summit of that dramatic headland at 207 metres being the highest ground around and the destination for its scenic tramway. Llandudno parish was large covering just over 2,700 acres, its population rose dramatically following the end of this transcription period, the volume of marriages recorded indicative of an average during the 68 years of close to 400 rather than the 1,100 calculated in its infancy of growth, today it is many thousands. Like most of Wales Llandudno is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Tudno's church sits in isolation on the northern side of the Great Orme and is accessed from the town by St Tudno's Road. As already mentioned it sits within a traditional "llan" indicative of an early Christian site, it must have been an ascetic experience when the village was small to come to this isolated spot for worship. The church is a typical one of small rural Welsh settlements, a combined nave and chancel topped off with a western bellcote and all built in the local stone. Pevsner indicates the fabric of the northwestern corner as the oldest surviving and indicates it as pre-15th century wherein much of the remainder originates. The 16th century saw the northern porch and eastern chamber added. The inconvenient position away from the growing town saw the church abandoned in the 1830s and during the following 40 years both St George and Holy Trinity were built amongst the planned town and resort to replace it. Despite these changes and its abandonment it was restored in 1855 with the completion of that effort in a second restoration of 1907. Visiting the church in its atmospheric position is faciliated by a scenic parking layby opposite the gates, it has spectacular views along the coastline and out to sea, a short flight of 6 steps leads to the churchyard's metal gates and entry into a space which only has a few, easily avoidable, trees within its predominant emptiness, no issues for the photographer.