Craig y Forwyn (meaning "Maiden's Crag" in English) is acrag inConwy County Borough,Wales, located less than a mile south ofLlanddulas, near the village ofRhyd y Foel. The cliff is composed ofcarboniferous limestone and is of interest to geologists as a source offossils and to rock climbers as a fine cliff with many interesting climbing routes.
Craig y Forwyn reaches a height of 110 metres (360 ft), androck climbers have identified and rated more than 160 routes for ascending it. The rapidity with which the rock dries makes the cliff a useful climbing venue after rain has fallen.[1]
The cliff lies on the west bank of the Afon Dulas, which reaches the sea atLlanddulas, and is slightly inland of the belt of carboniferous limestone that runs along the coast fromGreat Ormes Head toPoint of Ayr, about three miles west ofAbergele. The Dulas passes through a gap in the limestone belt, the strata of which dip from the north or northeast. This band of limestone is less than a mile wide. The summit of the hill is 190 m (623 ft) above sea level.[2]
The cliff's carboniferous limestone is underlain by a seam about a foot thick of impurecoal and a narrow stratum of bituminousshale. This bears impressions of fossil plants includingLepidodendron,Poacites resembling leaves, andencrinite. Another stratum lower down the cliff is of pebbles of a greenish sandstone, and this contains fossils ofbivalve molluscs as well as more sections of encrinites.[2] Nearby isLlanddulas quarry, which produces a particularly porcelain-like limestone that has been used architecturally for such buildings as St Margaret's Church,Bodelwyddan, commonly known as the "marble church".[3]
53°16′44″N3°38′29″W / 53.2788°N 3.6415°W /53.2788; -3.6415