Historical background
The earliest settlement within the character area lies on
the east-facing slopes of the Orme, where dwellings for miners
and their families were established by the early nineteenth
century, working for copper ore on the Orme itself, probably
supplementing their income with fishing and farming. This area
preserves a different character from the rest of the urban
development of Llandudno, being distinguished by smaller dwellings,
built from the local limestone along winding lines which follow
the contours and natural topography of the hillslopes.
The greater part of the site of the present town of Llandudno
was a marshland into the nineteenth century, when it was drained;
an enclosure act of 1843, implemented in 1847, apportioned
832 acres out of 955 acres of parish common to Edward Mostyn
of Gloddaeth, who resolved upon the creation of a seaside resort.
The first auction of leasehold building plots took place in
April 1849.
A policy of controlled leasing was adopted, in which the type
of building that could be erected was determined by its locality.
The street pattern was laid down by the estate, and leaseholders
could submit proposed buildings for approval to the estate
- which accounts for both the extraordinary variety of Victorian
architecture in Llandudno, and its remarkable homogeneity as
a town.
The substantial hotels along the North and South Parades were
erected from the 1850s onwards, beginning with the Queen's
Hotel in 1853. Smaller scale developments followed soon after
on the streets inland from the sea-front. Mostyn Street , the
main east-west commercial axis, was largely developed by the
1870s. The pier was built by John Dixon in 1876 to the designs
of James Brunlees and Alexander McKerrow, 2295' long, in two
sections, and whose desk is lined with four kiosks leading
to three larger kiosks at the head.
Llandudno contains a number of outstanding examples of Victorian
and early twentieth century places of worship, and parks and
gardens. Other civic amenities include the Mostyn Art Gallery
, a substantial glazed-brick structure, and the library on
Mostyn Street .
Developments have continued into the late twentieth century
but have not impinged on the town's character.
Llandudno was reached by a railway in 1858, consisting of
a short branch line from the main Chester to Holyhead line.
The growth of charabanc and other motor traffic in the early
twentieth century led to the construction of the present principal
road access, now known as Wormhout Road , from the east in
the 1930s. This preserves its inter-war character, and contrasts
pleasantly with the laid-out Victorian street pattern of the
earlier part of the town.
Llandudno successfully attracted an élite clientèle in the
1850s and '60s, but by the end of the nineteenth century its
appeal was directed more to the prosperous white-collar workers
of the North of England and the Midlands , effectively much
as it is at the end of the twentieth century.
Key historic landscape characteristics
Victorian architecture, planned layout,
seaside resort
An outstanding example of a Victorian seaside resort, and
also of a controlled townscape. Llandudno is remarkable for
having retained its nineteenth century character, including
decorative ironwork on the major hotels and hydro establishments
and street furniture. A recent proposal for a lifeboat station
on North Parade was rejected on aesthetic grounds.
Llandudno is particularly noted for the quality and consistency
of its suburban architecture as it continues to develop and
expand to the present day. Practically every style and development
of housing is represented here, from Victorian railways workers'
terracing, Arts & Crafts houses, 1920s and 1930s semi-detacheds
and Art Deco right up to modern Barret and mock-Tudor developments.
Back to Creuddyn
and Arllechwedd Landscape Character Map
