Penmaenmawr is situated on the north coast between the larger towns of Bangor and Conwy.Hills, flanked by the promontories of Penmaen Mawr (to the west) and Penmaen Bach (to the east), rise steeply from the crescent shaped sandy shore to form a semi circle above the town.

The town, named after the western headland, lies within the parish of Dwygyfylchi. Since the eighteenth century four separate communities have been created within the parish. Capelulo, the earliest to the east, sprang up after 1772 on the turnpike road from Llanrwst to Bangor which chose the Sychnant as part of its route. Within a few years three inns and a smithy had been established to provide services for travellers using the new route.

After 1830 when quarrying for the production of paving (setts) began on the slopes of Penmaen Mawr the village of Penmaenan grew rapidly to provide accommodation for the new quarrymen and their families who flocked in from other parts of North Wales. Here, to the west of the Parish , sprang up a village of small terraced houses which with its chapels, shops and inns clung to the steep slopes between the quarries and the shore.

The third settlement of Panyrafon, in the centre of the parish , developed above the railway station which was opened in 1849. Here, villas , hotels, boarding houses, shops and a large Anglican church catered for the visitors who came mainly from the north of England on the new Chester to Holyhead line. The railway company named their station, Penmaenmawr after the headland—they considered the old parish name to difficult for visitors to pronounce! Thus the new town was baptised and the old parish name went out of use.

Since the 1980s Dwygyfylchi as a place name has been revived. Until recently the area around the Parish Church was known as St. Gwynan’s. This was the name given to their bus stop by the Crosville Motor Bus Company in the 1930s when development of the area began. The new name appeared on road signs when the present A55 was been constructed and has been accepted especially by estate agents!