Pitt's Head (

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 peopl ...

: Carreg Collwyn) is a distinctive rock located at

grid reference A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...

, close to the

A4085 road The A4085 is a 20-mile road between Caernarfon and Penrhyndeudraeth in North Wales that runs through the scenic Aberglaslyn Pass. There are several locations where the road is of substandard width. The road begins at the southern apex of a tria ...

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, an ...

, Wales. Its distinction lies in a resemblance to the profile of politician

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ir ...

Geography

Located as it is near the base of one of the paths to the summit of

Snowdon Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (histori ...

, Pitt's Head Halt was a station on the original

Welsh Highland Railway The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations ...

, also marking the highest point on that railway. The present reconstruction of the railway does not envisage reopening the halt. The rock gives its name to the Pitt's Head Bridge, where the railway passes under the A4085, and the nearby Pitt's Head Cutting. In the

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

of the region, the rock gives its name to the rock of which it is formed, the Pitt's Head Tuff. This is an

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

acid ash-flow

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

which

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficia ...

s on the northern flanks of

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the na ...

. The correct name for this rock cluster is Cerrig Collwyn, Pitt's Head is only a name for one of these rocks. Collwyn ap Tango was said to be Lord of Eifionnydd,

Ardudwy Ardudwy is an area of Gwynedd in north-west Wales, lying between Tremadog Bay and the Rhinogydd. Administratively, under the old Kingdom of Gwynedd, it was first a division of the sub kingdom (cantref) of Dunoding and later a commote in its o ...

and part of Llŷn.

Resemblance

File:Pitts Head; Singular rock, by the road side, ten miles from Carnarvon and three from Beddgelert.jpg, Artist's impression of Pitt's head, 1850 Image:Pitt's Head.jpg, Pitt's Head Image:Pittatpembrokecollegecambridge.jpg, Statue of William Pitt at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

Image:Pitt the Younger.jpg, Portrait of William Pitt, attributed to

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...

File:William Pitt by Joseph Nollekens, 1808.JPG, William Pitt by

Joseph Nollekens Joseph Nollekens R.A. (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823) was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. Life Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at 28 Dean Street, Soho, London, ...

, 1808

Sources

* Cerrig Collwyn - See : Hynodion Gwlad y Bryniau - Cyfres Llafar Gwlad rhif 48 tudalen 7. By Steffan Ab Ioan * The Lakes of Eryri Geraint Roberts Gwasg Carreg Gwalch 1995 * Leigh's guide to Wales & Monmouthshire, 1835, p. 7
Digitised
* — However, this reference confuses irretrievably the town of

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

on the North Wales Coast, and the

River Colwyn The Afon Colwyn ( en, River Colwyn, italic=yes) is a small river in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, a tributary of the Afon Glaslyn. It has its source on the south-western flank of Snowdon. It first flows west to cross the A4085 Caernarfon to Bed ...

which is close to Pitt's Head. There is no connection between the two apart from the name, but the Encyclopedia places Pitt's Head close to Colwyn Bay. It is nevertheless a source for the name of Pitt's Head. * British Geological Survey, England and Wales Sheet 118

External links

Bank of England statue

{{coord, 53.0414, N, 4.1251, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SH576515), display=title Betws Garmon Rock formations of Gwynedd Rock formations of Snowdonia Geology of Wales Welsh Highland Railway William Pitt the Younger

Geography

Resemblance

Sources

Further reading

External links