Historical background
An extensive area dominated by parkland and pasture, defined
to the west by the urban areas of Deganwy and Llandudno Junction
(area 5), to the north by the urban development of Llandudno
(area 2), and the higher ground of the Little Orme and Nant
y Gamar (area 3), to the east by Penrhyn Bay (area 23). The
Bryn Pydew ridge (area 22) intrudes into the area.
An area rich in mythological associations, particularly the
story of Taliesin and Maelgwn Gwynedd, who are traditionally
connected with the Roman and post-Roman at Deganwy, consisting
of two precipitous hillocks and the saddle between them. This
formed the site of Deganwy castle, built by Robert of Rhuddlan
c. 1080. The hill was held alternately by the Welsh and the
Anglo-Normans until 1263, and part was granted to the Cistercians
of Aberconwy.
From the late Medieval period, the area was dominated by the
Mostyn family, whose seat lay at Gloddaeth, which lies within
the area. The Mostyns also owned Bodysgallen, and they were
to be instrumental in the development of Llandudno in the nineteenth
century. Lesser families included the recusant Pughs of Penrhyn
Creuddyn, who sheltered missionary priests. Gloddaeth dates
in part from the sixteenth century, and is now a boarding school.
There was some shale quarrying at Pabo from 1911 to 1932.
Key historic landscape characteristics
Parkland , gentry houses, substantial farmsteads, limestone
walls
The area is dominated by Gloddaeth, formerly the seat of the
Mostyns, now a boarding school, and the substantial farms associated
with it. Though Gloddaeth is the only landed seat within the
area, Bodysgallen, Penrhyn and Marl are all within a mile of
it. The churches of Eglwys Rhos and Llangystennin are both
ancient foundations.
A marked feature of the landscape is the stone-built watch-tower,
believed to date from the seventeenth century, at Bryniau.
The only pre-twentieth century nucleated community is at Glanwydden,
which consists of a public house and a cluster of houses around
a cross-roads. The nearby windmill dates from 1704.
Back to Creuddyn
and Arllechwedd Landscape Character Map
