Llanddulas is a village in

Conwy county borough Conwy County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is a county borough in Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south, and Denbighshire to the east. Other settlements in the county borough include Abergele, Betws-y-Coed, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, ...

, Wales, midway between

Old Colwyn Old Colwyn ( cy, Hen Golwyn, formerly Colwyn bilingually) is a large village just to the east of Colwyn Bay, in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Prior to local government reorganisation in April 1974 it was part of the Municipal Borough of Colwyn ...

and

Abergele Abergele (; ; ) is a market town and community, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough and in the historic county of Denbighshire. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on ...

and next to the North Wales Expressway in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-Foel Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-foel ( cy, Llanddulas a Rhyd-y-foel) is a community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales. It is located on the coast of Liverpool Bay, at the mouth of the Afon Dulas, west of Abergele, east of Colwyn Bay and east of Conwy ...

. The village lies beneath the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

hill of

Cefn-yr-Ogof Cefn yr Ogof is the highest point of the hill to the west of Gwrych Castle near Abergele and Llanddulas. Ownership of the hillside is divided into three categories; an area managed by Welsh National Resources on behalf of the National Assembly ...

(670 ft). This hill has large

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s, and

quarrying A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

of limestone was formerly the main industry of the village, with crushed stone being exported from the 200 m long

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

. According to figures from the 2011

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Llanddulas, combined with nearby village

Rhyd y Foel Rhyd-y-foel is a small village near the coast of north Wales in the area of Rhos in the County Borough of Conwy, Wales. It is named after the old ford (Welsh: ''rhyd'') over the River Dulas. It lies at the foot of the western slopes of Pen ...

, had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 1,542, with around 23% of the population having some knowledge of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

. Llanddulas is notable as being the place where

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

was betrayed in 1399. and is also the birthplace of

Lewis Valentine Lewis Edward Valentine M.A. (1 June 1893 – March 1986) was a Welsh politician, Baptist pastor, author, editor, and Welsh-language activist. He was the first leader of the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru. Early life Valentine was born in ...

. Between 1889 and 1952 the village had its own railway station. According to legend, a cave on the mountain of Pen y Cefn was once the abode of the Devil, until the people of Llanddulas performed an

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

at the cave to drive him away.

Llanddulas Limestone and Gwrych Castle Wood Llanddulas Limestone and Gwrych Castle Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the preserved county of Clwyd, north Wales. The designated area lies in the communities of Betws yn Rhos, Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-foel and Llysfaen. The hil ...

is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. In February 1990 a storm and high tide caused extensive flooding to the east of here, especially at

Towyn Towyn ( cy, Tywyn) is a seaside resort in the Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is also an electoral ward to the town and Conwy County Borough Council, county councils. Location It is located between Rhyl, in Denbighshire, and Abergele in Conwy ...

and

Kinmel Bay Kinmel Bay ( cy, Bae Cinmel) is a seaside village in Conwy County Borough, north-east Wales. It is also an electoral ward to the county council and town council. The resort town of Rhyl lies just across the River Clwyd in the neighbouring count ...

. New coastal defence works were built along 7 miles of coast from

to the

River Clwyd The River Clwyd (Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd'') is a river in Wales that rises in the Clocaenog Forest () northwest of Corwen. Its total length is . It flows due south until, at Melin-y-wig, it veers north-eastwards, tracking the A494 and passing t ...

. At Llanddulas these consist of

Dolos A dolos (plural: dolosse) is a wave-dissipating concrete block used in great numbers as a form of coastal management. It is a type of tetrapod. Weighing up to , dolosse are used to build revetments for protection against the erosive force of ...

concrete. At Northern Towers, a gateway to

Gwrych Castle Gwrych Castle ( cy, Castell Gwrych meaning "hedged castle") (Originally spelt as 'Gwrŷch') is a Grade I listed 19th-century country house near Abergele in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The castle and 236 acre estate are owned by a charity, an ...

, a battle is commemorated with four plaques. (See photograph bottom of page).

Notable residents

Billy Morris (footballer, born 1918) William Morris (30 July 1918 – 31 December 2002) was a Welsh international footballer who played as an inside forward. He was part of the Burnley side which lost 0–1 to Charlton Athletic in the 1947 FA Cup Final. Between 1947 and 1952, Morr ...

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanddulas and surrounding area
Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-Foel Villages in Conwy County Borough {{Conwy-geo-stub