Llandudno place names

Llandudno place names

Llandudno is named after the church of St Tudno, on the Great Orme. “Llan” denotes an area of land enclosed by a wall, in which a church was normally the main feature. The “Llan” prefix is common in Wales and is usually followed by the name of the saint to whom the church is dedicated. The first letter of the saint’s name usually mutates when the name follows Llan, hence Llandudno isn’t Llantudno.

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The Great Orme has a Norse root. “Orme” denotes a serpent. Vikings in South Wales had the same idea, which is why today we have Worm’s Head on Gower. The Welsh name for the Great Orme is Y Gogarth, or Pen y Gogarth.