Llanfairfechan ("Little

St Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

") is a town and

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 ...

in the

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 Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It is known as a

seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

and had a population at the 2001 Census of 3,755, reducing to 3,637 at the 2011 Census. The history of the area dates back to at least

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times, as demonstrated by the discovery of a large second century

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

, which is now preserved in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Political boundary

It was in

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

from 1972 to 1996, and prior to that was in

Caernarfonshire , HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon , Map= , Image= Flag , Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd) , year_start= , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...

. For ceremonial and electoral boundary purposes it was transferred from the

preserved county The preserved counties of Wales are the eight current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. They are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and othe ...

of Gwynedd to that of

Clwyd Clwyd () is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to th ...

in 2003. For electoral purposes, the community of Llanfairfechan consists of three

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

s, Bryn, Lafan and Pandy.

Transport connections

The town lies on the north coast on the route of the

A55 road The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway ( cy, Gwibffordd Gogledd Cymru) is a major road in Wales and England, connecting Cheshire and north Wales. The vast majority of its length from Chester to Holyhead is a dual carriageway pri ...

, between

Penmaenmawr Penmaenmawr (, ) is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an i ...

and Bangor. It has a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...

. It, however, is in the unusual situation where there is only one public road that connects it with the remainder of the Great British road network, which is the

North Wales Expressway.

Local interest and trivia

Morfa Madryn, the

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

area immediately west of the town on the shore of Traeth Lafan, is a local authority-managed nature reserve of outstanding beauty and a favourite haunt of

bird watcher Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

s. The site is home to

cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gen ...

and shags. The rare little egret can also be spotted. It is also not far from

Aber Falls Aber Falls ( cy, Rhaeadr Fawr) is a waterfall located about two miles (3 km) south of the village of Abergwyngregyn, Gwynedd, Wales. The waterfall is formed as the plunges about over a sill of igneous rock in the foothills of the range. ...

. Llanfairfechan is also home to

Bryn y Neuadd Hospital Bryn y Neuadd Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Bryn y Neuadd) is a mental health facility in Llanfairfechan, Conwy County Borough, Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the ...

, a learning disability facility, a mental health unit (Carreg Fawr) and a medium-secure unit (Tŷ Llywelyn). The site, Bryn Y Neuadd, is also home to the control centres for both the Emergency and Non-Emergency

Ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

services for the north. Llanfairfechan was judged North Wales

Calor Village of the Year The Calor Village of the Year comprised 4 annual competitions organised by gas provider Calor to identify the villages that best met the following criteria: "a well-balanced, pro-active, caring community which has made the best of local opportun ...

for 2009 in the competition run by Calor Gas UK The earlier Llanfairfechan Golf Club was founded in 1909. This club continued until the early 1950s. There is still a golf club operating in the town under the same name. The town is also referred to by the younger generation as the 'TDLA' which means 'The Double LA'. This nickname is derived from the towns first three letters 'Lla-nfairfechan' and came into use around the early 2000s.

Welsh language

According to the 2011 Census, 45.3% of the population of the town can speak

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

. 66.2% of the town's population who were born in Wales noted that they could speak the language. The two schools situated in Llanfairfechan, Ysgol Pant-y-Rhedyn and Ysgol Babanod Llanfairfechan, are categorized as being predominantly English-medium schools but with significant use of Welsh.

Town twinning

In 2011, the process of town-twinning between Llanfairfechan and

Pleumeleuc Pleumeleuc (; ; Gallo: ''Ploemenoec'') is a commune in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany in the northwest of France. Geography The town of Pleumeleuc is part of the county of Montfort-sur-Meu and of the town of Rennes. It stretches o ...

was completed over the first weekend of June. A number of events were held over the weekend, including trips to local attractions and guided tours around Llanfairfechan itself. In April 2012, 25 Llanfairfechan teenagers visited Pleumeleuc.

Climate

Gallery

The parade, Llanfairfechan, Wales-LCCN2001703510 (colour balance correction).jpg, Colourised

Photochrom Photochrom, Fotochrom, Photochrome or the Aäc process is a process for producing colorized images from a single black-and-white photographic negative via the direct photographic transfer of the negative onto lithographic printing plates. The proc ...

print (circa the late 19th century) of seafront and Penmaenmawr mountain Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr mountain with mist 1989.jpg, A similar view in 1989 during more overcast weather Penmaenmawr mountain - geograph.org.uk - 486864.jpg, The town in 2007 The Beach, Llanfairfechan - geograph.org.uk - 241994.jpg, The beach File:St Marys and Christ Church Llanfairfechan - geograph.org.uk - 150036.jpg, Christ Church (Church in Wales) File:St Mary of the Angels Church, Llanfairfechan by Ian S Geograph 4192861.jpg, St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church

References

External links

* https://catholicchurchllanfairfechan.webs.com/ * https://www.parishcommunity.org/ * http://www.llandudno-catholic-church.org.uk/
A Vision of Britain Through Time

British Listed Buildings

Geograph

Llanfairfechan Town Council website

Llanfairfechan's Community Web Portal

Office for National Statistics
{{authority control Towns in Conwy County Borough