Old Llandudno

Llandudno's History for You

Timeline

  • Some walls of the current St Tudnos' Church built.

  • The first reference to Llandudno in written history is about the Manor of Gogarth conveyed by King Edward I to Annan, Bishop of Bangor.

  • Current St Tudnos' Church built using some of the original wall of older church Building.

  • The King’s Head (public House), named after King William IV (1765-1837), is the only pub surviving from the earliest days of Llandudno.

  • The population of Llandudno according to the census was 318.

  • The Marine Drive Company was founded.

  • Tabernacl Baptist Chapel, Mostyn Street founded.

  • Ebeneser chapel for Calvinistic Methodists constructed.

  • Semaphore station Buit.
    Tabernacl chapel for Baptists constructed.

  • Semaphore station Buit.
    Tabernacl chapel for Baptists constructed.

    Tabernacl Baptist Chapel, Mostyn Street extention built.

  • Caersalem Chapel was erected in 1837 and was later converted into Doctor G. Roberts' Grammar School.

    St. George's Primary School established.

  • Salem chapel for Wesleyans constructed.

    Greenhill, 18 Old Road Llandudno's first Post Office. Mrs. Ann Jones was appointed Receiver 'under guarantee of the inhabitants' of a Penny Post from Conwy.

  • St Tudno’s Church roof blown off in a storm

  • Llandudno Improvement Act passed by Parliament.
    Church of St George was built.
    First Post Office in Llandudno opened.

    St Georges Church Built.

  • Semaphore station rebuilt and extended.

  • Enclosure order for the common land in Llandudno.

  • St. George's National School opens.

  • Owen Williams proposed the owner of the estate Lord Mostyn develop the town into a holiday resort.

  • Edward Mostyn and Owen Williams began the transformation of Llandudno, from a mining and fishing village, when they presented Lord Mostyn with plans to develop the marsh lands behind Llandudno Bay into a holiday resort.

  • St. George’s Hotel was the first modern building to be erected on the promenade at Llandudno.

    Capri Guesthouse, was Llandudno first Town Hall untill 1902.

    The town's first modern block of shops built, now the "Empire Hotel".

    Llandudno's first five man volunteer Fire Brigade was formed.

  • Dedicated policing for Llandudno began and a lock-up in Tŷ Coch Road was built to incarcerate offenders .

    Full restoration of St Tudnos' Church was completed in 1855 at the sole cost of William Henry Reece.

    Baths, Reading Room and Billiard Hall opens including the towns first library in the complex. Library Reference Link

    First bathing machines on in the town start operating

  • Fire Brigade established.

    Capri Guesthouse also becomes the towns first Magistrates' Court.

  • Caernarfonshire Constabulary was created.

  • First train station built with the opening of the branch line, from Llandudno Junction, on the Chester and Holyhead Railway.

    First pier built in 1858 and only lasted 19 years before it was demolished for pier no.2 which we have today.
    Work on a sewage system commenced.

    Christ Church built on Abby Road

  • Gas Street lamps installed.

    Hydro Hotel opened.

  • Llandudno's first lifeboat began operating with a boathouse near the railway station.
    First bank in Llandudno opened.

    Lighthouse on the Great Orme built by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board.

    St. Tudno Hotel, North Parade opens.

  • Gogarth Abbey Hotel - Built as Penmorfa House for Dean Liddell and completed in this year

    Alice Liddell became the inspiration for the children's classic 'Alice in Wonderland' whilst on a family holiday in Llandudno. A guest of the family Charles Lutwidge Dodson, better known as the author Lewis Carroll, wrote the story for her which was published in 1865.

    Lighthouse on the Great Orme erected.

    Zion English Baptist Church, Mostyn Street erected.

  • St. Georges Hall(theatre), 74 Mostyn Street opens.

  • Llandudno hosted the Welsh National Eisteddfod.

    the Improvement Commissioners banned 'Punch and Judy'. Richard Codman successfully appealed against the banishment and there has been a C

  • First stone laid for Trinity Church.

  • St Johns Methodist Church opens.

  • First Catholic Church in Old Turkish baths Houes Opens.

    First purpose built police staion with lockup built on Vardre Lane

  • The electric telegraph was installed in Marie-Et-Cie, Gloddaeth Street as it had a Post Office inside.

  • Parliamentry permission given to replace "Cust's Path" with "Marine Drive".

    Haulfre Gardens - original gardens were created by Henry Pochin between 1871 to 1876

  • Trinity Church completed.

    The Imperial Hotel was created by uniting a string of boarding houses.

    Magistrates’ court was added to first purpose built police station. The nearby alley connecting Vardre Lane to Upper Mostyn Street is still called Court Lane.

  • Husband and wife team of 'N****r Minstrels' provided open air entertainment using a bell tent as their dressing room. They were not the first, Mr. Rounds Promenade Band played in the Happy Valley in 1872. The present theatre was built in 1933 to replace an earlier structure which had been destroyed by fire..

  • LLandudno has it's first Sergeant and two Constables paid for by the Caernarfonshire Constabulary.

  • Marine Drive completed.
    Mersey Docks & Harbour Board constructed the Great Orme lighthouse.

  • Second Pier built.

    Tabernacl Baptist Chapel, Mostyn Street rebuilt.

  • Happy Valley is the oldest public park in the Conwy region. It stands in a sheltered fold of the land on the eastern slopes of the Great Orme, above Llandudno. The site was originally a quarry, but in 1887 Lord Mostyn donated the site to the town of Llandudno to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

  • Llandudno second Pier built.

    Towns first football club ('Gloddaeth Rovers')

  • Baths, Reading Room and Billiard Hall extended to become the Baths Hotel.

    Llandudno Hospital (Annexe) - originally built as an Isolation Hospital, but with the virtual elimination of such diseases as Diptheria it was closed in 1950 and converted into a forty five bed Medical Annexe for the use of the present General Hospital.

  • Llandudno Pier Pavilion opens.

  • Sumner's Restaurant, Mostyn Street founded.

    The Welsh Independent Chapel, Deganwy Avenue opens.

  • Current pier extended.

    Britain's biggest indoor swimming pool opens beneath the Pier Pavilion.

    The foundation stone of the Sarah Nicol Memorial Cottage Hospital was laid by Lady H. A. Mostyn on 4 September 1884.

  • Llandudno’s 30-bed cottage hospital was opened at the corner of Trinity Avenue and Caroline Road. Nicol Memorial Cottage Hospital became the town’s Youth Centre.
    Llandudno Advertiser launched by William, "Zulu" Smith.

  • Country's largest indoor swimming pool.

  • The Happy Valley, a former quarry, was gifted to the town by Lord Mostyn to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The area was landscaped and developed as gardens and for public recreation.

    Happy Valley Open Air Variety Theatre opens.

    Risboro Hotel opened as WA Whiston's Collegiate School for Boys.

  • Queen Elizabeth of Romania stayed at Llandudno for five weeks and allegedly gave the town its motto of "hardd, haran, hedd" meaning "beautiful haven of peace".

    Camera obscura, built.

    Bodlondeb Castle, private residence finished

  • First reported football match played - Llandudno lost 2-1 to Conway.

  • Current train station built.

    Tower added to Trinity Church.

    Town's first telephone exchange opened.

  • Bells added to Trinity CHurch tower.

    Llandudno's first public toilet built opposite the Pier Pavilion top entrance.

    Current Catholic Church opens.

    Rehoboth Methodist Chapel was built.

    Tancred Cummins first saw the land known as the Warren on Llandudno‘s West Shore composed of sand hills. He spent 2 to 3 weeks planning out a rough nine hole Golf course later became North Wales Golf Club.

  • The Arcadia Theatre opens.
    Formerly - The Victoria Palace / Riviere’s Concert Hall / Llandudno Opera House / Hippodrome.
    Town Hall: Plans submited, by" T.B. Silcot"

    North Wales Golf Club founded.

  • Llandudno Commissioners hand over to new Urban Council.

  • Llandudno hosted the National Eisteddfod.

  • The Marine Drive Company purchased by the town for £10,500.

  • Links Hotel opened as substitute for the Mostyn Arms at Llanrhos. Opened by Sam Hughes, Secretary of the Llandudno Pier Company.

  • The West Shore Pier built at 360 feet long.
    Grand Theatre built.

    Ty'n y Ffrith Farm demolished to make way for St. Paul's Church.

  • The "Baths Hotel" demolished.

  • The population of Llandudno according to the census was 7,282.

    The Grand Theatre was opened on bank holiday 5 August 1901, seating 1,100 in three tiers. It has been described as a West End theatre in miniature.

    Oriel Mostyn, which now houses an art gallery, was built for Lady Mostyn.

    construction starts on the Great Orme cable Trams.

    The new Grand Hotel opens on the site of the old "Baths Hotel" and was the biggest hotel in Wales at the time.

  • (1 July)
    The Great Orme Tramway was opened for passengers on The tramway was opened in its two stages: the lower section on 31 July.

    Current Town Hall Opened.

    Grand Theatre opened.

    Tabernacl Baptist Chapel, Mostyn Street schoolroom added.

  • New lifeboat house was built in Lloyd Street, the site chosen to facilitate the lifeboat’s launch from either the north or west shores of Llandudno.

    The upper part of the Great Orme Cable tram way opens on 8 July

  • Great Orme tram station opened.

  • (October) Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway operated an electric tramway service between Llandudno and Rhos-on-Sea.

    Cable tramway to the summit of the Great Orme was completed.

    John Bright School opens on the current Asda site.

    West Shore Tram Terminus erected.

  • Emmanuel Christain Centre, Lloyd Street Opens.

    Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway operated an electric tramway service between Llandudno and Rhos-on-Sea from 1907 and extended to Colwyn Bay.

  • Greate Orme Sumit Complex replaced Semaphore Station with a nine bedroom hotel and with an adjoining eighteen hole golf course .

    First Synagogue in the Masonic Hall on Upper Mostyn Street.

    Welsh Methodist Church on Lloyd Street Built. Currently the Emmanuel Church.

  • Llandudno Town Band was formed.
    Library opened by "Lord Mostyn" on 15th September.

  • The population of Llandudno according to the census was 10,469.

    Red Garages (Motors) started in May 1907 and was called Llandudno Motor and Garage Company Limited

  • Llandudno Secondary School, Trinity Avenue , John Bright Middle School opens.

  • church of Our Saviour built. Closed as Anglican church in 2002. Now operating as Lighthouse Community Church.

  • The Savoy Cinema Theatre, 35 Mostyn Street opens.

  • Bryn Rosa, on Abbey Road, Llandudno, was actually the childhood home of William Morris Hughes. He emigrated to Australia in 1884 and was elected into the New South Wales parliament in 1894 before being chosen as Prime Minister in 1915.

    Maesdu Golf Club founded.

    First Police station closes an second police station opens on Oxford Road.

  • Loreto Convent founded. The Convent was built partly on the site of the Ty Draw Farm and some of the original farm buildings were still behind the Convent in 1987

  • The Palladium Theatre, Gloddaeth Street opens.

  • LLandudno war memorial was erected and designed by architect Sidney Colwyn Foulkes.

  • Current St David's Methodist Church, Craig y Don built.

  • Town bandstand built.

  • Haulfre Gardens opened as a public park by Lloyd George, M.P. for Caernarfon Boroughs

  • Marine Drive pedestrian toll abolished.

  • Correnade: Opend in in March 1932 costing £6,500.

    First Great Orme Tramway accident,Car No 4 derails on at Trabor Hill Killing the driver and a 12 year old girl.

  • White Rabit Statue West Shore unveiled by "David Lloyd George".

    Happy Valley Pavilion was built to replace a 19th century building which was burnt down in 1932.

  • (25th March)
    The opening of the Winter Gardens including the Oden/Astra with 1,650 seats.
    The complex was built on the site of The Vineyard, the walled market garden noted for its fruit and cost £70,000 to build.

  • Marks and Spencer, Mostyn Street opens.

  • ‘Llandudno Welcomes You’ sign, Penrhynside erected.

  • Current Llandudno hospital opened by Princess Alice, Grandaughter of Queen Victoria in August of that year.

  • 4th June, Savoy Cinema destroyed by fire and remained a wreck until after the war.

  • new Infants Department was added to St. George's Primary School.

  • Marks & Spencers open thier fist store in the town opened.

    Current Synagogue opens.

  • Hospital on Trinity Ave the ‘Sarah Nicol’ becomes a successful youth centre.

  • Llandudno Junction Football Club was founded.

  • August 5th, Savoy Cinema re-opens after rebuild.

  • Llandudno Gas Works close after 100 years of production.

  • (March)
    LLandudno & Colwyn Bay trams cease operations.

  • St. Georges Hall / Princes Theatre closes.

  • Llandudno's first jazz club opens in Payne's Corner House.

  • The population of Llandudno according to the census was 17,904.

    Llandudno's second police station Extended.

  • Druidic stone circle built in Happy Valley

  • Llandudno hosted the National Eisteddfod.

  • Camera Obscura was destroyed in 1965 by fire and subsequently rebuilt.

  • The Great Orme Cabin Lift was opened in June.

    The Queen & Prince Phillip visit LLandudno.

  • Current Fire Station opened.

  • The population of Llandudno according to the census was 19,060.

  • Marks and Spencer, Mostyn Street get extended and the first North Wales escalators come into use.

  • Old Swimming Pool, Mostyn Broadway opened in August 1973.

    On the 5 December 1973 an arsonist caused £200,000 worth of damage by lighting a fire in room 414. He was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment

  • First Asda store on former old football ground Opens.

    Craigside Hydro demolished at the end of the 1974 season.

    Last baby born at Oxford Road Maternity Hospital (corner of Oxford and Argyll Road).

  • First Asda store on former old football ground burns down.

  • 1st August the 'Golden Goose' amusements opens on the pier.

  • Second Asda store on old football ground opens.

  • The population of Llandudno according to the census was 13,202

    The Conference Centre built.

  • The Happy Valley Entertainers open air theatre was closed.
    Light house ceased operating and put up for sale.

  • Great Orme County Park formed, covering over 1,000 acres.

    The Savoy Cinema closes in October 1986.

  • The Grand Theatre Llandudno reopens as Revivals Night club.
    The Savoy Cinema Theatre, 35 Mostyn Street demolished.
    Happy Valley Open Air Variety Theatre closes.
    In May 1987 Red Garages stopped selling petrol for the first time in eighty years history.
    In September Red Grages calls in the recivers. and sell to Kwik Fit Tyre Company stands on the Conway Road site whilst Mochdre Garage Ltd occupies the original site on Argyll Road.

  • 300 metre dry ski slope & 700 metre toboggan created.

  • Most of then train station's canopy demolished.

    Mostyn Champneys Retail Park opens for business.

    The shoreward end pavilion of Llandudno Pier was closed.

  • Towns current football ground opened on 'Maesdu Park'.

  • Great Orme Mines opened the bronze age mine to the public.

    Emmanuel Church opens in the former Welsh Methodist Church on Lloyd Street.

  • Arcadia Theatre closes.

    Victoria Centre opened.

    Llandudno is flooded - 5 and a half inches of rain fell in three and a half hours.

  • The shore ward end pavilion of Llandudno Pier was destroyed by fire in February.

    The North Wales Theatre, Arena and Conference Centre, was built.

  • Palladuim closes.

  • The population of Llandudno according to the census was 20,090.

  • Builder Street commercial units development.

  • New Parc Llandudno Retail Park opened in October Courtsey of Mostyn Estates.

  • Second Swimming Pool opens.

  • (September) New Maesdu Road bridge opens.

  • Weatherspoons opens inside the former Palladuim theatre.

  • Network Rail completed a £5.2m million upgrade of the station, which provided a glass frontage and a car park on what was previously platform 4 and 5.

  • New lifeboat station on the town’s north shore was completed.

  • The ‘Sarah Nicol' hospital(youth center) on Trinity Ave demolished