The Great Orme (Welsh: Y Gogarth) is a limestone headland on the north coast of Wales, north-west of the town of Llandudno.

Referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr,[1] its English name derives from the Old Norse word for sea serpent.

They did not found any permanent settlements, unlike on the Wirral Peninsula, but some Norse names remain in use in the former Kingdom of Gwynedd (such as Point of Ayr near Talacre).

[4] 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 local authority provides a warden service on the Great Orme that regularly patrols the special scientific and conservation areas.

[6] The Great Orme is a peninsula made mostly of limestone and dolomite, formed during the Early Carboniferous part of the Earth's geological history.

Spring and early summer flowers include bloody cranesbill, thrift and sea campion, clinging to the sheer rock face, while pyramidal orchid, common rockrose and wild thyme carpet the grassland.

The old mines and quarries also provide suitable habitat for species of plants including spring squill growing on the old copper workings.

The white horehound (Marrubium vulgare), which is found growing on the westernmost slopes of the Orme is said to have been used, and perhaps cultivated, by 14th-century monks, no doubt to make herbal remedies including cough mixtures.

The rare horehound plume moth (Wheeleria spilodactylus) lays her eggs amongst the silky leaves and its caterpillars rely for food solely upon this one plant.

The headland is the habitat of several endangered species of butterflies and moths, including the silky wave, the silver-studded blue (Plebejus argus subsp.

caernesis) and the grayling (Hipparchia semele thyone) These last two have adapted to the Great Orme by appearing earlier in the year to take advantage of the limestone flowers and grasses.

The Great Orme is reported as the northernmost known habitat within Britain for several 'southern' species of spider notably: Segestria bavarica, Episinus truncatus, Micrargus laudatus, Drassyllus praeficus, Liocranum rupicola and Ozyptila scabricula.

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.

[11] 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 Great Orme is also home to many resident and migrant land birds including ravens, little owls and peregrine falcons.

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 crab Large-scale human activity on the Great Orme began around 4,000 years ago during the Bronze Age with the opening of several copper mines.

The Manor of Gogarth (which included all three townships) had been bestowed on Anian, Bishop of Bangor by King Edward I in 1284 in recognition of services rendered to the crown, notably the baptism of the first English Prince of Wales, newly born at Caernarfon.

The significant agricultural yet north-facing township of Cyngreawdr includes the original parish church and rectory of St Tudno, a sixth- or seventh-century foundation.

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.

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.

In 1826 the summit of the Great Orme was chosen as the location for one of the 11 optical semaphore stations that would form an unbroken 80 mi (130 km) chain from Liverpool to Holyhead.

Two years later the Great Orme semaphore station closed with the completion of a direct electric telegraph connection from Liverpool to Holyhead.

On 11 July 1914, Beatrice Blore drove a Singer Ten car up the cable track of the Great Orme, with a gradient of 1 in 3 in places, becoming the first woman to drive up the steep and challenging headland.

She was six months pregnant at the time and the drive was a publicity stunt developed by her partner George Wilkin Browne to help sell the cars at his Llandudno garage, North Wales Silver Motors.

With the creation of Llandudno, the first route round the perimeter of the Great Orme was a footpath constructed in 1858 by Reginald Cust, a trustee of the Mostyn Estate.

After about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.5 km) a side road leads to St. Tudno's Church, the Bronze Age Copper Mines and to the Great Orme Summit complex with car park.