Town in Conwy, Wales
Colwyn Bay
A Victorian resort that grew from a few cottages, with a pier, a mountain zoo on a hillside and one of Britain's tiniest chapels just along the prom.
Key information
- County
- Conwy
- Nation
- Wales
- Known for
- Victorian seaside resort, Victoria Pier, Welsh Mountain Zoo
- Football clubs
- Colwyn Bay FC (the Seagulls)
About Colwyn Bay
The resort that railways built
Colwyn Bay barely existed before the 1840s. The coast here was farmland and a scattering of cottages until the Chester and Holyhead Railway opened in 1848 and made the North Wales shore reachable from the factory towns of Lancashire and the Midlands. By the later Victorian years, builders were laying out wide streets, hotels, boarding houses and villas on the slopes above the sweep of beach. It became a resort planned almost from scratch, which is why the town centre feels so unmistakably Victorian and Edwardian, with tall terraces, ornate gables and grand church spires. The bay itself is a gentle curve, with the headland of the Little Orme to the west and the hills rising straight behind the town. Shelter from the hills helped its reputation as a place to recover from city smoke.
A pier that kept burning down its own theatre
Victoria Pier opened in 1900 and quickly became the social heart of the resort, with a pavilion at its landward end that staged concerts and shows. Fire destroyed that pavilion in 1922, a blow to the town's entertainment scene. Storms in 2017 damaged the pier and part of it collapsed. The original structure was dismantled in 2018, and a much shorter reconstructed Victoria Pier, incorporating restored historic ironwork, opened in 2021. It remains a recognisable symbol of Colwyn Bay.
Why a zoo sits halfway up a hill
The Welsh Mountain Zoo opened in 1963 on a steep, wooded hillside above the town, founded by Robert Jackson. The slope gives it spectacular views over the bay and the Irish Sea, and it also makes for a leg-testing visit. It is known for its conservation work and for its flying displays by birds of prey. It is the best-known attraction in Colwyn Bay and one of the most visited places in North Wales.
The chapel that seats about six
Right next door in Rhos-on-Sea, on the seafront, stands St Trillo's Chapel, famously one of the smallest churches in Britain. It seats around six people and contains a holy well beneath its altar, associated with the sixth-century saint Trillo. It makes a great pub-quiz answer and a lovely contrast with the big Victorian town just along the prom.
Football, waves and a refreshed seafront
Colwyn Bay FC, founded in 1881 and nicknamed the Seagulls, play at Llanelian Road, giving the town its football identity. Eirias Park, a big green space behind the seafront, is the town's main sporting and leisure hub, and the town is also home to Colwyn Bay rugby club. Porth Eirias, a watersports and dining centre on the seafront opened in 2013, reflects the modern effort to bring the beach back to life, with sailing, kayaking and paddleboarding on the same shore that once drew Edwardian crowds. Inland, Bodnant Garden is a short drive away, and its Laburnum Arch is one of the most photographed garden features in Wales. Gwrych Castle, a vast Gothic mansion, glowers over the coast nearby.