St Tudno's Church is often described as being in a "sheltered" hollow on the Great Orme Llandudno. (The Great Orme is a massive limestone outcrop jutting out into the Irish Sea from the Creuddyn Peninsula) But sheltered is a relative term as the Great Orme can be a pretty windy place. I personally was lucky not to have broken my wrist when I was once blown off a bike while cycling round the Marine Drive on the Orme.

St Tudno arrived with his mission to preach Christianity on the Great Orme in the 6th Century AD and wisely set up home in a small cave, Ogof Llech, which would have not only protected him from the elements but also supplied him with fresh water from a clear spring well. The Church of St Tudno that he established has been restored and repaired many times over the centuries and there is nothing left of the original church. The present church was built in the 12th Century and extended in the 15th Century. And the extreme weather was still testing the structure to its limits in the 19th Century, when in 1839 the roof was blown off. This it seems was the last straw with the church authorities and St Tudno's was abandoned until in 1855 a local benefactor funded the repair of the roof and the restoration of the church.

Understandably many of the ancient relics have been lost over the centuries but the stone font is estimated to be 12th Century and there are two stone coffin lids dating back to the 13th Century within the church. There is also a carved representation of the Stigmata of Christ in the roof timbers above the Chancel step. This medieval artifact would be unique to Wales but for the fact that the nearby church of St Hilary's in Llanrhos also contains representations of Christ's stigmata.

In the churchyard the earliest inscribed stones are from the 18th Century, but it is worth considering when resting after your hike up the steep slopes of the Orme that the bodies in St Tudno's Church yard had to be transported all the way to their final resting place from the sea level  town of Llandudno.