Pentraeth () is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

on the island of

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

(''Ynys Môn''),

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

, at . The

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

begins LL75. The community population taken at the 2011 census was 1,178. The village itself having a population of 557.

Name

Its Welsh

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

means ''at the end of (or head of) a beach'', and it is located near Traeth Coch (Red Wharf Bay). There is a small river, Afon Nodwydd which runs through it. The village's ancient name was ''Llanfair Betws Geraint''.

History

In 1170 the village was the site of a battle when

Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd (c. 1120–1170), King of Gwynedd in 1170, was a Welsh poet and military leader. Hywel was the son of Owain Gwynedd, king of Gwynedd and an Irishwoman named Pyfog. In recognition of this, he was also known as ''Hywel ...

landed with an army raised in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in an attempt to claim a share of the kingdom of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

following the death of his father

Owain Gwynedd Owain ap Gruffudd ( – 23 or 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great () and the first to be styled "Prince of Wales" and th ...

. He was defeated and killed here by the forces of his half-brothers

Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd ( – 1203) was king of Gwynedd from 1170 to 1195. For a time he ruled jointly with his brothers Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd and Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd. Dafydd was the son of Owain Gwynedd and Cristin ferch Goronwy ab O ...

and Rhodri. In 1859,

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

stayed in the village on his trip, as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', to visit the wreck of the ''Royal Charter'' in Moelfre. Between 1908 and 1950 it was served by Pentraeth railway station, on the Red Wharf Bay branch line.

Amenities

The village has a football side, Pentraeth F.C., who play in the Welsh Alliance Division 2, the fourth tier of Welsh football. The centre of the village is the Square. It is bounded by St. Mary's Church and the Panton Arms public house as well as a row of shops called Cloth Hall. This was founded in the 19th century by Benjamin Thomas as a general store. It continued as a grocery store into the 1990s, and is now occupied by a carpet shop as well as a bakery and party-ware hire shop. The community includes Rhos Cefn Hir.

Notable buildings

St Mary's Church

St Mary's Church is the village church. The date of construction is unknown, but is probably from some time between the 12th to 14th centuries. Some medieval stonework remains in three walls of the building. A chapel was added to the south side in the 16th or 17th century, and the church was altered and refurbished during the 19th century. The church is still in use, as part of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

, and is one of five churches in a combined parish. It is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

, a designation given to "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them", in particular because of the retention of medieval fabric in a predominantly 19th-century building, and its "fine" memorials.

Ty Fry

Ty Fry, on the road from Pentraeth to Rhos Cefn Hir, is an important house dating from the 17th century. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and its garden is listed, also at Grade II*, on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

Governance

Prior to the 2012 Anglesey electoral boundary changes an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

in the same name existed, electing a county councillor to the

Isle of Anglesey County Council The Isle of Anglesey County Council () is the local authority for the Isle of Anglesey, a principal areas of Wales, principal area with county status in Wales. Since 2022 the council has 35 councillors who represent 14 multi-member electoral war ...

. This ward included the community of Llanddona and had a total population in 2011 of 1,869.

References

External links

Pentraeth Community Council websitePhotographs of Pentraeth and surrounding area on geograph
* {{portal bar , United Kingdom , Wales Registered historic parks and gardens in Anglesey Former wards of Anglesey