Llanfairfechan (Welsh for 'little St Mary's parish'; Welsh pronunciation) is a town and community in the Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is known as a seaside resort and had a population at the 2001 Census of 3,755,[2] reducing to 3,637 at the 2011 Census. The history of the area dates back to at least Roman times, as demonstrated by the discovery of a large second century milestone, which is now preserved in the British Museum.[3]

Llanfairfechan
A view over Llanfairfechan
Llanfairfechan is located in Conwy
Llanfairfechan
Llanfairfechan
Location within Conwy
Population3,637 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSH683747
Community
  • Llanfairfechan
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLLANFAIRFECHAN
Postcode districtLL33
Dialling code01248
PoliceNorth Wales
FireNorth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Conwy
53°15′11″N 3°58′23″W / 53.253°N 3.973°W / 53.253; -3.973

Political boundary

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It was in Gwynedd from 1972 to 1996, and prior to that was in Caernarfonshire. For ceremonial and electoral boundary purposes it was transferred from the preserved county of Gwynedd to that of Clwyd in 2003. [citation needed] For electoral purposes, the community of Llanfairfechan consists of three electoral wards, Bryn, Lafan and Pandy for the town council. The wards Bryn and Lafan are merged to create the Bryn ward for the county council.

Transport connections

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The town lies on the north coast on the route of the A55 road, between Penmaenmawr and Bangor. It has a railway station on the North Wales Coast Line. It, however, is in the unusual situation where there is only one public road that connects it with the remainder of the British road network, which is the A55 road North Wales Expressway.

Notable sites

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Morfa Madryn, the salt marsh 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 watchers. The site is home to cormorants and shags. The rare little egret can also be spotted. It is also not far from Aber Falls.

Llanfairfechan is also home to Bryn y Neuadd Hospital, 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 services for the north.

Llanfairfechan was judged North Wales Calor Village of the Year for 2009 in the competition run by Calor Gas UK[4]

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.[5]

Wern Isaf (Rosebriars) is a house and garden designed by the architect Herbert Luck North. Born in Llanfairfechan, Luck North studied in London under Henry Wilson and Edwin Lutyens, before returning to build a substantial practice in Wales. His home is a Grade II listed building[6] and its garden is listed, also at Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.[7]

Welsh language

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According to the 2011 Census, 45.3% of the population of the town can speak Welsh.[8] 66.2% of the town's population who were born in Wales noted that they could speak the language.[9]

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.[10][11]

Town twinning

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In 2011, the process of town-twinning between Llanfairfechan and Pleumeleuc 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.[12]

Climate

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Climate data for Llanfairfechan (1991–2020)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 9.2
(48.6)
9.2
(48.6)
10.6
(51.1)
12.6
(54.7)
15.4
(59.7)
17.9
(64.2)
19.6
(67.3)
19.5
(67.1)
17.7
(63.9)
14.8
(58.6)
11.8
(53.2)
9.7
(49.5)
14.0
(57.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 3.7
(38.7)
3.5
(38.3)
4.5
(40.1)
6.0
(42.8)
8.6
(47.5)
11.0
(51.8)
12.9
(55.2)
13.0
(55.4)
11.4
(52.5)
9.0
(48.2)
6.4
(43.5)
4.1
(39.4)
7.9
(46.2)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 115.7
(4.56)
89.5
(3.52)
81.0
(3.19)
59.4
(2.34)
62.8
(2.47)
71.3
(2.81)
60.7
(2.39)
84.7
(3.33)
93.7
(3.69)
118.3
(4.66)
137.4
(5.41)
140.1
(5.52)
1,114.7
(43.89)
Average rainy days (≥ 1 mm) 15.3 12.9 12.4 11.5 10.9 10.0 11.5 12.3 12.7 14.7 17.7 16.7 158.5
Mean monthly sunshine hours 41.2 68.5 112.3 163.9 214.7 191.1 187.0 170.1 134.1 92.5 48.7 33.4 1,457.5
Source: Met Office[13]
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References

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  1. ^ "Community population 2011". Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  2. ^ 2001 Census: Llanfairfechan, Office for National Statistics, retrieved 19 March 2009
  3. ^ British Museum Highlights
  4. ^ "Llanfairfechan crowned N.Wales finest village". Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  5. ^ “Llanfairfechan Golf Club”, “Golf’s Missing Links”.
  6. ^ Cadw. "Wern Isaf (formerly Rose Briars) (Grade II) (3567)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  7. ^ Cadw. "Wern Isaf (Rosebriars) (PGW(Gd)9(CON))". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Community Council Profiles - Llanfairfechan" (PDF). Snowdonia National Park. Snowdonia National Park. 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  9. ^ "LC2206WA (Welsh language skills by country of birth by age) - Nomis - Official Labour Market Statistics". www.nomisweb.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Ysgol Babanod Llanfairfechan". My Local School. Welsh Government. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  11. ^ "Ysgol Pant Y Rhedyn". mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Programme of events for town twinning visit". Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  13. ^ "Llanfairfechan (Conwy) UK climate averages - Met Office". Met Office. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
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