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Lavan Sands () is an
intertidal The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various sp ...
sandbank found in the
Menai Strait The Menai Strait () is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The s ...
between
Bangor, Gwynedd Bangor (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Caernarfonshire, the community had a ...
and
Llanfairfechan ; ) is a town and community in the Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is known as a seaside resort and had a population at the 2001 Census of 3,755, reducing to 3,637 at the 2011 Census. The history of the area dates back to at least Roman time ...
,
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. Totally underwater at
high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...
, at extreme low tides it measures east-west and north-south. At the western end is found another sandbank Bangor Flats and just north is the sandbank Dutchman's Bank (). At low tide the Lavan Sands make the narrowest part of the Menai Strait, at
Beaumaris Beaumaris (; ) is a town and community (Wales), community on the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey fro ...
, a mere . The area is designated as an
SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
due in part to the large numbers of
Eurasian oystercatcher The Eurasian oystercatcher (''Haematopus ostralegus'') also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or (in Europe) just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It has striking black and white plumage, a long st ...
s that migrate there due to the freshwater streams that flow across it. Historians have speculated that the sands might have been the launch site of the first Roman assault on Anglesey led by
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus Gaius Suetonius Paulinus (fl. AD 40–69) was a Roman general best known as the commander who defeated Boudica and her army during the Boudican revolt. Early life Little is known of Suetonius' family, but it likely came from Pisaurum (modern Pe ...
in 60AD. What is certain is that they were used as a point of departure for the
ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...
between the mainland and the island until the
Menai Suspension Bridge The Menai Suspension Bridge ( or ) is a suspension bridge spanning the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826, it was the world's first major suspension bridge. Th ...
was completed in 1826. Due to the busy
shipping lane A sea lane, sea road or shipping lane is a regularly used navigable route for large water vessels (ships) on wide waterways such as oceans and large lakes, and is preferably safe, direct and economic. During the Age of Sail, they were determined ...
s in and out of
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, the Sands and Dutchman's Bank have been the location of several
shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...
over the years involving vessels that have gone off course or have been looking for shelter from the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
. One of the best known is that of the '' Rothsay Castle'' on 18 August 1831 in which 130 people died.Rothsay Castle's entry on CLYdeships.co.uk
/ref> The disaster led to the establishment of a
lifeboat station A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crew and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine. Lifeboats may be rigid, inflatable or rigid-in ...
at Penmon and to the completion of Trwyn Du Lighthouse in 1837.Hughes, Margaret: ''Anglesey Lighthouses and Lifeboats'', page 70. Llygad Gwalch, 2007 From the mainland the Sands are extensively viewable from both the
Wales Coast Path The Wales Coast Path () is a designated long-distance trail which follows, or runs close to, the coastline of Wales. Launched in 2012, the footpath is long and was heralded as the first dedicated coast path in the world to cover the entire len ...
and the
North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Main Line ( or ; ), also known as the North Wales Coast Line (), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, England, running from Crewe on the West Coast Main Line to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey. The lin ...
railway. From Anglesey the best views are from Beaumaris and the
Anglesey Coastal Path The Anglesey Coastal Path (formally the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path, ) is a long-distance footpath around the island of Anglesey () in North Wales. The route is part of the Wales Coast Path. Description The path mainly follows the coast. ...
.


References

{{coord, 53.253066, -4.05312, display=title, region:GB_scale:2000 Menai Strait Straits of Anglesey Straits of Gwynedd Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Gwynedd