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ST.TUDNO AND ST TUDNO'S CHURCH
 Link to Home page SANT TUDNO AC EGLWYS SANT TUDNO

Welcome to St. Tudno’s Church
Croeso i Eglwys Sant Tudno
The ancient church of St. Tudno is a place of pilgrimage, peace and prayer and is an active place of worship within the Parish of Llandudno, including weekly open air services during the summer. 

The first open air service in 2008 will be on Sunday May 25 at 11.00 am and the final service will be on Sunday 28 September.  Morning Prayer is said at St. Tudno's most Saturday mornings at 9.00 am.  There are also a number of special services during the year and the first of these in 2008 was the Easter Vigil on Saturday 22 March.  There will be two special services for St Tudnotide in June: a said Eucharist for St. Tudno's Day at 2.30 pm on Thursday 5 June and a Eucharist at 2.30 pm on Saturday 7 June.  The Saturday service will include the inauguration of the Friends of St. Tudno's, the preacher will be the Dean of Bangor, the Very Reverend Alun Hawkins, and the service will be followed by tea and cakes in the church grounds.  Please use this link for a full list of services at St. Tudno's, while details of other special services in the Parish can be found on the Special Events page. 

We hope that you will be able to visit St. Tudno's and a warm welcome awaits you at our services.  If you are unable to visit in person, we hope that visiting this web site will help you to experience something of this very special place, where Christians have been worshiping for more than 1400 years.

Open air service at St. Tudno's Church
The church is open every day from April till October and on Saturdays and Sundays from November till March, weather permitting.  This year, the church has been open every day since Palm Sunday (22 March), weather permitting.  Visitors are encouraged to sign the Visitors' Book and to write prayer requests in another book.  When the church is closed each day, prayers are said for all who have asked and for all visitors.

A prayer for all who visit St. Tudno’s Church:

Father God, who led St. Tudno
To this blessed and holy place,
Lead us through life’s joys and sorrows,
Help us feel your peace and grace.

Amen
If you would like more information on St. Tudno's Church, please click here to contact one of the wardens  or the Rector.  Please see the map for directions to the church.   For the open air services, transport will be available between Holy Trinity Church in Llandudno town centre and St. Tudno's Church.  

Thank you for visiting
 Diolch am eich ymweliad
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St. Tudno
St Tudno window

Window in Holy Trinity Church
In the sixth century the young Tudno (pronounced “Tidno”) entered the monastery of Bangor is Coed, near Chester, which was renowned for its learning, patriotism and missionary zeal. In faith, Tudno then came to the ancient rock of the Great Orme and climbed the steep paths of the windswept headland to bring to the little round stone huts the message of Christianity. 

St. Tudno’s Church, on the Great Orme, is an emblem in stone of the witness of men down the ages to the faith first brought to this part by Tudno, Saint and Confessor. 

St. Tudno is now the patron saint of Llandudno and his feast day is celebrated on 5th June.


Extract from T.F. Wynne's booklet  St. Tudno and St. Tudno’s Church,
available from the church
 Celtic cross

One of many Celtic crosses in the churchyard

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St. Tudno's Church

St Tudno's Church

St. Tudno founded his cell on the Great Orme in the sixth century but no trace of the original building remains.  The present church was built in the 12th century but extended in the 15th century.  In 1839 the roof was damaged by a severe storm and it was decided not to repair the church but to build a new church nearer the centre of what was then the village of Llandudno.

St Tudno's Church from NW

In 1840 St. George's Church was built in Church Walks and served the mainly Welsh-speaking population.  St. Tudno’s Church was neglected until 1855 when an appeal was made for £100 to repair the roof and Mr. W.H. Reece of Birmingham and Plas Tudno, Llandudno, "gratefully resolved to restore the church at his sole cost as a thank offering for Divine Goodness".  The repair work began on St. Tudno’s day and the church was re-opened for public service on St. Luke’s day (18th October) 1855.


Stigmata boss
Stigmata boss
 The oldest part of the present building is the north wall of the nave, which dates from the 12th century.  The font dates back to the 12th century and fixed to the south wall are two fine old stone coffin lids, which date back to the 13th century.  On either side of the east window are painted tablets with the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments in the Welsh language. 

In the roof is a wood carving, above the sanctuary step where people kneel to receive Holy Communion.  This is the stigmata, or representation of the five wounds of our Saviour, which depicts the two hands, the two feet and the side, each bearing a wound.  There is a similar boss in the neighbouring church of Llanrhos.  Obviously the work of a local craftsman, these two bosses are thought to be the only examples of their kind in the country.


Information from T.F. Wynne's booklet  St. Tudno and St. Tudno’s Church, available from the church

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 St Tudno’s Churchyard

The churchyard, within the boundary wall surrounding the church, was for many years the main burial place for the people of Llandudno, whose coffins and gravestones had to be brought up the steep roads of the Great Orme.   The earliest inscribed stones date from the 18th century and can be found close to the south wall of the church. 

St Tudno's churchyard

St. Tudno's churchyard has been closed for burials for many years and the Church in Wales regulations do not permit scattering of ashes in churchyards.  Please please click here to contact one of the wardens or the Rector if you wish to locate a particular grave in the churchyard.  However, there is often confusion as to whether a grave “on the Orme” is in the churchyard or in the adjoining Cemetery, which is administered by Conwy County Borough Council (01492 544677).

The large cemetery and the cemetery chapel are shown in the foreground of this photograph.  Just beyond the cemetery are St. Tudno's Church and churchyard, surrounded by a boundary wall. 

The cemetery opened in September 1903 and the majority of burials after this time would have been in the cemetery rather than the churchyard. 
Cemetery and St. Tudno's Church and churchyard


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News, services and events during 2008


St. Tudno’s Day is on Thursday 5 June and this will be celebrated with a Eucharist service at 2.30 pm, after which a small group will make a pilgrimage St. Tudno’s Well.  The well is on private farmland and the visit has been agreed by kind permission of the landowners.  Although the well is not far from the church “as the crow flies”, reaching the well requires a walk down and up hills over rough ground and stout footwear is recommended.  If you are interested in making the pilgrimage, please contact the Rector or wardens. 

We will be starting a Friends of St. Tudno’s group, with a Eucharist and Inaugural Tea at 2.30 pm on Saturday 7 June and this will also be a second opportunity for everyone to celebrate St. Tudno’s Day.  The aim of the Friends is to enable people from outside the parish to keep in touch with St. Tudno’s.  We will publish more information on the Friends when the details have been finalised but we hope to see both parishioners and Friends on this day. 



CandleThe Easter Vigil service took place on Saturday 22 March, a cold and windy evening, and the New Fire was quite popular with people arriving at the church (perhaps we should have made the fire larger!).  The service began in the dark with blessing the Pascal Candle, lighting it from the New Fire and passing the light from person to person.  After the Rector sang the Exultet, readings were heard in the darkened church and the Easter Proclamation was followed by simultaneous fanfare on the organ, ringing of the bell and switching on of the lights.  After singing an Easter hymn, water for baptism was blessed in the font and baptismal vows were renewed. 














Nanny goat and kid
Early visitors to St. Tudno's  in 2008 were this nanny goat and her young kid, seen in the churchyard during February. They are part of the herd of feral Kashmir goats which live on the Great Orme. 

The Wardens of the Great Orme Country Park warn that a nanny will often leave her young kid somewhere safe while she is feeding, returning at regular intervals to suckle it.  The kid has not been abandoned and should not be approached or handled, as this could prevent the mother from accepting it again.  If you are concerned about a kid, please telephone the Wardens on 01492  874151. 

Please use this link for a website giving more information on the Great Orme goats.




Please use this link for information on and photographs of events and services during 2006-7.


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Prayers
These prayers were written by our Vicar, Revd Jane Allen, for some of our St. Tudno prayer cards and were inspired by the presence of God which can be felt in the church and the beauty of the surrounding countryside.

Lord and Father, we thank you for the beauty of this place which you created.

In all the uncertainties of our world, may the hills which stand steadfast and sure about us speak of the steadfastness of your love; may the sea around us with its eternal ebb and flow keep us aware of your ever-flowing grace; may the open sky above us remind us that your mercy is always offered to us. 

Help us to remember that we are part of your Creation and that you cherish us and hold us in the palm of your hand. 

Amen		 Great Orme near St Tudno's Church
Great Orme near St. Tudno’s Church




Snowdonia fron the Great Orme
Snowdonia from the Great Orme
 Loving Father, when the way seems difficult, when the day seems weary, when we are troubled, or lonely, or sad, lift us up into your presence, just as the hills are lifted up. 

Comfort us with the knowledge of your love, nourish us with the beauty of mountain and valley, sea and sky spread out before us. 

Thus strengthened and refreshed, may we journey on, trusting that you will guide us in the steep places, show us the pathway when it is hidden or uneven, walk with us wherever our road may lead. 

We ask this in the name of your dear Son, who is the way, the truth and the life. 

Amen


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Please use this link for information on Llandudno and the Great Orme.



Photographs © C. Jones
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