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The Great Orme () is a limestone headland on the North Wales, north-west of the town of Llandudno. Referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr,J. E. Caerwyn Williams (ed.), Gwaith Meilyr Brydydd a'i ddisgynyddion (University of Wales Press, 1994). 9.153n. its English name derives from the Old Norse word for sea serpent. The Little Orme, a smaller but very similar limestone headland, is on the eastern side of Llandudno Bay. The headland is a tourist attraction, with a Victorian tramway, a cableway, walking routes and a mining museum.
Despite there being a theory for the origin of the name "Orme", the word was not commonly used until after the creation of the Victorian era resort of Llandudno in the mid-19th century. Before this, Welsh names were predominantly used locally and in cartography to name the headland's landward features and the surrounding area. The entire peninsula on which Llandudno was built was known as the Creuddyn (the medieval name of the Commote – a historical division of land in Wales); the headland itself was called Y Gogarth or Pen y Gogarth; its Promontory were Pen trwyn, Llech, and Trwyn y Gogarth.
Orme only appears to have been applied to the headland as seen from the sea. In 1748, the Plan of the Bay & Harbour of Conway in Caernarvon Shire by Lewis Morris names the body of the peninsula "CREUDDYN" but applies the name "Orme's Head" to the headland's north-westerly seaward point.Mary Aris, Historic Landscapes of the Great Orme page 32 The first series Ordnance Survey map (published in 1841 and before the establishment of Llandudno) follows this convention. The headland is called the "Great Orme's Head" but its landward features all have Welsh names.Ordnance Survey (1841) First Series 78-Bangor It is likely that Orme became established as its common name due to Llandudno's burgeoning tourist trade because a majority of visitors and holidaymakers arrived by sea. The headland was the first sight of their destination in the three-hour journey from Liverpool by paddle steamer.
The headland is also home to about 200 Cashmere goat. The herd, which has roamed the Orme since the middle of the 19th century, is descended from a pair of goats that were presented by the Shah of Persia to Queen Victoria shortly after her coronation in 1837. Numbers are controlled by compulsory sterilization; the action was taken because competition for resources was forcing goats off the Orme into gardens and property. The Royal Welsh, a large regiment in the British Army, is permitted by the British monarch to choose an animal from the herd to be a Military mascot (if it passes selection, it is given the honorary rank of lance corporal). During the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Wales, goats began entering the town because of the lack of people; at the same time, the goat population on the Orme grew rapidly because park wardens were unable to administer sterilisation injections. With the end of the pandemic, the town council has created a special task force to manage goat numbers.
The caves and abandoned mine workings are home to large colonies of the rare horseshoe bat. This small flying mammal navigates the caves and tunnels by using echolocation to obtain a mental picture of its surroundings. During the daytime, horseshoe bats are found suspended from the roof of tunnels and caves, with their wings tightly wrapped around their bodies. Only at dusk do the bats leave the caves and mine shafts, to feed on beetles and moths.
The cliffs are host to colonies of seabirds (such as , , and even as well as ). The Great Orme is also home to many resident and migrant land birds including , and . The red-billed chough is occasionally spotted.
Below the cliffs, the rock-pools around the headland are a rich and varied habitat for aquatic plants and animals including barnacles, red beadlet anemones and hermit crabs.
The mine was abandoned and evidence suggests it was not worked again until the late 17th century, due to the demand for copper and improved ability to pump water out of the mine. A steam engine was introduced in 1832 and ten years later an 822-metre long tunnel was mined at sea level to drain the deeper mine workings. Commercial-scale mining on the Great Orme ended in the 1850s, although small-scale mining continued until the mines were finally abandoned in 1881.
In 1987, the improvement of the derelict mine site was commissioned by the local council and Welsh Development Agency. The area was to be landscaped and turned into a car park. Since excavation began in 1987, over of prehistoric tunnels have been discovered. It is estimated that less than half of the prehistoric tunnels have been discovered so far.
In April 1991 the Great Orme Mines site was opened to the public. Pathways and viewing platforms were constructed to give access to the surface excavations. In 1996 a bridge was erected over the top of Vivian's Shaft. The visitor centre's extension, built-in 2014, contains a selection of mining tools and bronze axes along with displays about life and death in the Bronze Age, mining and ancient metallurgy. Also accessible is the 3,500-year-old Great Cavern.
The significant agricultural yet north-facing township of Cyngreawdr includes the original parish church and rectory of Saint Tudno, a sixth- or seventh-century foundation. Following the Glyndŵr uprising, the villagers of the Creuddyn peninsula were harshly taxed and by 1507 they had nearly all fled their homes. Henceforth the cultivated land lay fallow and is now grazed by sheep and goats. Llandudno's Victorian cemetery, which is still in regular use, was laid out in 1859 adjacent to the 12th-century church of Saint Tudno where open-air services are held every Sunday morning in summer. Nearby are several large ancient stones that have become shrouded in folklore and also an unexplained stone-lined avenue called Hwylfa'r Ceirw leading towards Cilfin Ceirw (Precipice of Deer).
The third township was Yn Wyddfid clustered below the Iron Age hill fort of Pen y Dinas at the northeastern "corner" of the Great Orme. With the reopening of the copper mines from the 18th century onwards, this township grew considerably in size with the streets and cottages of the mining village laid out on the largely abandoned agricultural holdings.
In 1826 the summit of the Great Orme was chosen as the location for one of the 11 Semaphore line that would form an unbroken chain from Liverpool to Holyhead. The original semaphore station on the Orme, which consisted of small building with living accommodation, used a ship's mast with three pairs of moveable arms to send messages to either Puffin Island to the west or to Llysfaen in the east. Skilled telegraphers could send semaphore messages between Liverpool and Holyhead in under a minute.
In March 1855 the Great Orme telegraph station was converted to electric telegraph. Landlines and submarine cables connected the Orme to Liverpool and Holyhead. At first the new equipment was installed in the original Semaphore Station on the summit until it was moved down to the Great Orme lighthouse in 1862. Two years later the Great Orme semaphore station closed with the completion of a direct electric telegraph connection from Liverpool to Holyhead.
By the late 1860s, Llandudno's blossoming tourist trade saw many Victorians visit the old semaphore station at the summit to enjoy the panorama. This led to the development of the summit complex.
The Royal Artillery coast artillery school was transferred from Shoeburyness to the Great Orme in 1940 (and, additionally, a Practice Camp was established on the Little Orme in 1941) during the war. Target practice was undertaken from the headland using both towed and anchored boats. Experimental work and training were also provided for radio direction finding. The foundations of some of the buildings and installations remain and can be seen from the western end of Marine Drive. The site of the school was scheduled as an Ancient Monument in 2011 by CADW, the Welsh Government's historic monuments body. This was done in recognition of the site's significance in a UK and Welsh context.
Also of note was the Aerial Defence Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) known as "X3", which was a three-storey building erected in 1942. This seems to have been a secret radar experimental station above the artillery school. The road put in to serve it now serves a car park on the approximate site of the station, which was demolished in 1956.
In 1952 the site was taken into private ownership, until it was acquired by Llandudno Urban Town Council in 1961.
In 1902, the Great Orme Tramway was built to convey visitors to the top of the Great Orme. In 1969, the Llandudno Cable Car was also constructed to take visitors up to the summit attractions. These include a tourist shop, cafeteria, visitors' centre, play areas, a licensed hotel, and the vintage tram/cable-car stations.
On clear days Winter Hill, the Isle of Man and the Lake District can be seen from the summit of the Orme.
The Orme has one of only two artificial ski slopes in North Wales, complete with one of the longest toboggan runs in the United Kingdom.
Landscaped gardens in the Happy Valley and terraces in the Haulfre Garden cover the lower landward facing steeply sloping southern side. Walkways link the Haulfre Gardens with the western end of the Marine Drive.
On the northernmost point of the Orme is the former Llandudno lighthouse. It was constructed in 1862 by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. The navigation aid remained in continuous use until 22 March 1985 when it was decommissioned. The building has now been converted into a small bed & breakfast guest house. The lantern and its optics are now on permanent display at the Summit Complex visitors' centre. The old established "Rest and be thankful" café is also nearby.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> BBC One The Story of Wales – Great Orme Copper Mine
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