Llangefni (meaning "church on the River Cefni", ) is the county town of

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council.

United Kingdom Census 2011 A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

recorded Llangefni's population as 5,116 people, making it the second largest settlement in the county. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.

Location

The town is near the centre of Anglesey, and is on the River Cefni, after which it is named. Its attractions include the

Oriel Ynys Môn Oriel Môn is a museum and arts centre located in Llangefni, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Wales. A two-part centre, the History Gallery provides an insight into the island's culture, history and environment. The Art Gallery has a changing programme ...

museum, which details the history of Anglesey and houses collections of the painters

Kyffin Williams Sir John Kyffin Williams, (9 May 1918 – 1 September 2006) was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll, on the Island of Anglesey. Williams is widely regarded as the defining artist of Wales during the 20th century. Pe ...

and

Charles Tunnicliffe Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe, Order of the British Empire, OBE, Royal Academy of Arts, RA (1 December 1901 – 7 February 1979) was an internationally renowned naturalistic painter of British birds and other wildlife. He spent most of his work ...

. In the west of the town is a large secondary school, Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni (Llangefni Comprehensive School), and in the north a Victorian parish church, St Cyngar's, set in a wooded riverside location called the Dingle. The town was formerly named Llangyngar, Welsh for "St Cyngar's church".

Commerce, transport and education

Neuadd y Dref Llangefni Town Hall - geograph

Llangefni is a commercial and farming town in Anglesey and once hosted the largest cattle market on the island. There is a relatively large

industrial estate An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...

, which includes a large chicken processing plant, the largest single industrial operation in the town, as well as several other small businesses. The town had a station on the Anglesey Central Railway line which opened in 1864. It closed in 1964, although goods trains continued to pass through the town until 1993. Although no longer used, the railway tracks have not been removed. The nearest station is now at

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (), is a large village and local government community on the island of Anglesey, Wales, on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and across the strait from Bangor. Both shortened (Llanf ...

, away

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...

. There are frequent buses to the larger settlements of Bangor and Holyhead as well as to the smaller towns of

Amlwch Amlwch (; ) is a port town and community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Amlwch Port, other settlements within t ...

and

Beaumaris Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from th ...

. By road the town is just 2 kilometres from the major A55 and A5 roads, via the short A5114. Water for the town comes from

Llyn Cefni Llyn Cefni is a small reservoir in the centre of Anglesey, Wales which is managed by Welsh Water and Hamdden Ltd, while the fishery is managed by the Cefni Angling Association. The reservoir is located just northwest of the island's county town ...

, a reservoir to the northwest. Llangefni hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1957 and 1983, and in 1999 gave its name to the Eisteddfod held at the nearby village of

Llanbedrgoch Llanbedrgoch () is a hamlet and post town, a mile south of the town of Benllech and west of Red Wharf Bay, on the island of Anglesey ( cy, Ynys Môn), north Wales. The parish church is St Peter's Church, Llanbedrgoch, a Grade II* listed buildi ...

. It also hosted the Urdd

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, ac ...

(youth Eisteddfod) in 2004. The town also has a college, Coleg Menai (Llangefni site). Llangefni is home to the headquarters of large builders merchant chain

Huws Gray Huws Gray is a British builders merchants chain based in the town of Llangefni, Anglesey, Wales. Huws Gray has over 100 branches located across Wales, England and Scotland and most recently with the acquisition of the Buildbase, PDM Scotland an ...

. The company currently has over 100 branches across the UK.

Sport

The local

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club, Llangefni Town, was promoted to the

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

at the end of the 2006–07 season, but relegated one season later. The local rugby club is Llangefni RFC, which plays in the WRU leagues. The club recently gained promotion to Division 2 West, but the WRU then decided to demote the club back to Division 4 North Wales league.

Welsh language skills

According to the 2011 Census, Llangefni is the community with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers on the

Isle of Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island, ...

, and the 6th highest in Wales. 80.7% of residents aged three and over reported being able to speak Welsh in the 2011 Census, as compared to 83.8% reporting being able to do so in the 2001 Census. 91.6% of those born in Wales could speak Welsh.

Governance

Llangefni is in the Canolbarth Môn electoral ward which also includes four other neighbouring communities in the centre of the island, electing three county councillors to the Isle of Anglesey County Council. Prior to the 2012 Anglesey electoral boundary changes the town was represented by three county councillors elected from three wards, Cefni, Cyngar and Tudur. Cefni, Cyngar and Tudur remain as community wards, electing the thirteen community councillors to Llangefni Town Council, the

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

of the town. The county administration took place in Llangefni Shire Hall from 1899 until 1974. The shire hall was re-designated the "Borough Council Offices" in 1974 and became the headquarters of Ynys Mon Borough Council. Brand new council offices were built at Llangefni in the 1990s for the new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, Isle of Anglesey County Council.

Notable people

John Elias John Elias was a Christian preacher in Wales in the first half of the 19th century, as part of the Welsh Methodist revival. His preaching was noted as being exceptionally powerful, "as if talking fire down from heaven". On one occasion it is sa ...

(1774-1841), preacher, lived in the town 1830–41 * Christmas Evans (1766–1838), preacher and chapel builder, lived in the town 1791–1826 * Gabriel Fielding (1916–1986), author, attended Llangefni County School, in 1934 *

Huw Garmon Huw Garmon (born 1966) is a Welsh actor, probably best known for playing the eponymous lead in the Oscar-nominated Welsh language film '' Hedd Wyn'' (1992). He has also taken part in various television series and has currently taken an academic p ...

(born 1966), a Welsh actor *

Nathan Gill Nathan Lee Gill (born 6 July 1973) is a British politician, who was the Leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021, when he resigned from the party. He previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales from 2014 to J ...

(born 1973), politician, former Leader of Reform UK Wales; lives in Llangefni *

Hugh Griffith Hugh Emrys Griffith (30 May 1912 – 14 May 1980) was a Welsh film, stage, and television actor. He is best remembered for his role in the film '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), which earned him critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Acto ...

(1912–1980), Oscar‑winning actor, attended Llangefni County School in his youth *

Hywel Gwynfryn Hywel Gwynfryn (born 13 July 1942 at Llangefni, Anglesey) is a Welsh TV, and radio personality and lyricist. He started working for the BBC in 1964 and joined Radio Cymru at its inception. Career Gwynfryn joined the BBC as a presenter in 1964 and ...

(born 1942), television and radio personality, studied at Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni * Myfanwy Howell (1903-1988), Welsh language radio and television broadcaster *

Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...

(born 1968), Oscar‑nominated actress, lived in the town between the ages of 7 and 10 *

(1918–2006), Welsh landscape painter

References

External links

*
photos of Llangefni and surrounding area on geograph
* {{Authority control Towns in Anglesey County towns in Wales