Old Colwyn (, formerly ''Colwyn'' bilingually) is a large village just to the east of

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...

, in

Conwy County Borough Conwy County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the north Wales, north of Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south and Denbighshire to the east. The largest settlement is Colwyn Bay, and Conwy is the administrativ ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Prior to local government reorganisation in April 1974 it was part of the

Municipal Borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

of Colwyn Bay, but the reorganisation established it as a separate

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

, whose

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

at the 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

was 7,626, increasing to 8,113 at the 2011 census. It hosted the

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

in 1941. It also harbours the 3rd Colwyn Bay (Old Colwyn) Scout Group headquarters and is home to the area's comprehensive school, Ysgol Bryn Elian.

Amenities

Old Colwyn has an area of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

called the 'Fairy Glen'. This area of woodland is said to contain many different spirits including

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

, hence its name, which dates from the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

and is a common name from that period (e.g. the "Fairy Glen" in

Penmaenmawr Penmaenmawr (, ) is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an ...

). This area has recently undergone a regeneration with funding from the council and it is now possible to walk through it easily. The Fairy Glen is subject to an ownership dispute between

Conwy County Borough Council Conwy County Borough Council () is the local authority for Conwy County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales. History Conwy County Borough was created in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, which replaced the previous two ...

and the water company, Dŵr Cymru, each claiming that the maintenance of the area is the responsibility of the other. Old Colwyn was once overlooked by the Hotel 70 Degrees, (just above Tan-y-Lan) so named because the architect who designed it used 70 degree angles in its construction. Built in 1972, it was demolished in 2007, to be replaced by a housing development. It also has easy access onto the promenade and beach, as well as a protruded cliff area known as Penmaenhead, marked by a disused stone utility house. This is a popular spot amongst teenagers for the dangerous practice of " cliff jumping" when tide is in and the water is deep enough, though to date nobody has been hurt.

History

In 1334, the village was mentioned in a government survey as "Coloyne".
Colwyn Bay Heritage Online In 1685, the village was known as "Colwun" and had a population of twenty. Following the Census Act 1800, Colwyn had a population of 150 with twenty-three cottages, twelve farms and two inns. St Catherine's Church was built in 1837 as a chapel-of-ease to Llandrillo-yn-Rhôs. A new

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

called Colwyn was created in 1844, with St Catherine's becoming the new parish church. During the nineteenth century, the village of Colwyn became increasingly known as "Old Colwyn" to distinguish it from the newly formed town of

(initially called "New Colwyn") to the west. In 1884, Old Colwyn railway station opened (briefly initially named "Colwyn railway station") on the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Main Line ( or ; ), also known as the North Wales Coast Line (), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, England, running from Crewe on the West Coast Main Line to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey. The lin ...

. In December 1952, the railway station closed; however, both the line and a street called "Station Road" remain. Since 1984,with the exception of a two-year period, 1992–1994, when the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

prohibited their playing games in Wales whilst competing in the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

Colwyn Bay Football Club's ground has been situated on Llanelian Road, Old Colwyn.

Former tramway

The Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway operated an electric tramway service between

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

and Rhos-on-Sea from 1907 and extended to

in 1908. The service closed in 1956.''The Golden Age of Tramways''. Published by Taylor and Francis.

Education

Old Colwyn has one infant school (Ysgol T. Gwyn Jones), one primary school
Ysgol Hen Golwyn
, and one secondary school ( Ysgol Bryn Elian).

Notes

References

External links

A Vision of Britain Through Time

British Listed Buildings

Geograph

Office for National Statistics
{{authority control Villages in Conwy County Borough Populated coastal places in Wales