Little Orme

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The Little Orme from Llandudno Promenade, January 29, 2005

The Little Orme is known in Welsh as Rhiwledyn and is 141 metres (or 463 feet) in height. It is one of two headlands that are situated at either end of Llandudno Bay, in North Wales. The other, larger, headland is the Great Orme.

1 Uses
2 Ecology & environment
3 History
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Uses

Unlike the Great Orme, the Little Orme has not been developed for copper mining or tourism. There has been limestone quarrying since the mid 1800s on the Penrhyn Bay side. It was centered on Porth Dyniewyd and served by its own narrow gauge railway, but quarrying ceased in 1936. There is some farming on the lower slopes.

The cliffs are a popular challenge for highly experienced rock climbers. The Coast Guard Rescue Unit use the Little Orme for training.

[edit] Ecology & environment

Parts of the Little Orme (notably the NWWT's Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve) are a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The North Wales Bird Trust is located on its lower slopes, and the Little Orme is a warden-patrolled sanctuary for sea birds. The best way to see the birds is by boat, around the cliffs.

The North Wales Path runs across the Little Orme, using the several public footpaths on its summit.

[edit] History

The Little Orme was inhabited during the Upper Paleolithic, notably the Pant y Wennol cave.

A small hoard of Iron Age Celtic metalwork was found in a cave on the Little Orme.

The medieval chapel of Blessed Mary of Penrhyn, abandoned in 1930 and now in ruins, is at the foot of the Little Orme in the grounds of Penrhyn Hall at Penrhyn Bay.

On 14 April 1587, printing material for Catholic literature was found in a cave on the Little Orme, where it had been used by the recusant Robert Pugh (squire of Penrhyn Hall) and his Chaplain Father William Davies to print ‘Y Drych Gristianogawl’ – ‘The Christian Mirror’. They had taken refuge there during the persecution of Catholics instigated by Queen Elizabeth I in May 1586.

The Royal Artillery coastal gunnery school, 198 battery, was posted to Little Orme during the Second World War. Target practice was undertaken from the headland to anchored boats, and unspent ammunition and unexploded shells may still be encountered offshore.