Rhoscolyn 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 ...

located on

Holy Island, Anglesey Holy Island (, 'the island of (Saint) Cybi') is an island on the western side of the larger Isle of Anglesey, Wales, from which it is separated by the Cymyran Strait. It is called "Holy" because of the high concentration of standing stones, bur ...

, Wales. It is just over five miles south of

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

and is the most southerly settlement on the island. The name Rhoscolyn is said to mean "The Moor" ''(Rhos)'' of The Column ''(colyn)'', referring to a pillar which the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

put up to mark the edge of their territories. The community population taken from the 2011 census was 542. The community includes the larger part of the village of Four Mile Bridge, which extends into the community of

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

on the other side of the Cymyran Strait. A little to the west of the village is a

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

dedicated to St Gwenfaen beside which are the remains of a

drystone Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. A certain amount of binding is obtained through the use of carefully ...

well house measuring 4.5 m east–west by 5.5 m. The local church in the village itself is dedicated to the same saint and was first built in the 6th century.Hughes, Margaret: ''Anglesey from the Sea'', page 43, Carreg Gwalch, 2001 The present church was built in 1875 and enlarged by the addition of a chancel in 1879. See also Wikipedia entry S''t Gwenfaen's Church, Rhoscolyn'' Among the interior fittings is a fine copper memorial in Art Nouveau style to the Revd. John Hopkins, who was Rector from 1876 until his death in 1901. Hopkins was obviously an effective and well-loved priest. There exists a 10,000 word appreciation of Hopkins written by " His Honour Judge Parry", a summer visitor who got to know him well. This includes many fascinating anecdotes illustrating the nature of rural life in late nineteenth century Anglesey. Rhoscolyn is bordered to the south by a small enclosed

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

called ''Borthwen'' which is bordered by a public

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

. There was once 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 ...

on Borthwen which was open between 1830 and 1929 which has been replaced by a navigational

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

on Ynysoedd Gwylanod ('''Gulls' Islands). Around these waters at the end of the 18th century was a thriving

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

catching industry, but this declined once the beds had been depleted.Hughes, Margaret: ''Anglesey from the Sea'', page 44, Carreg Gwalch, 2001 Existing buildings include the local pub, ''The White Eagle'' and the Ysgol Gynradd Santes Gwenfaen

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

which is found just over a mile north of the village. Probably the most significant lifeboat incident here was the launch to the ''Timbo''. On 1 December 1920 the small coaster, was en route to Ireland from Holyhead when she was overcome by a storm off

South Stack South Stack () is an island situated just off Holy Island on the northwest coast of Anglesey, Wales. Geology South Stack is an island known as a sea stack. It was formed by the wave erosion of sedimentary rocks that once connected the isla ...

and began to drift down the coast. The lifeboat was launched, with great difficulty in the heavy seas, and made a number of attempts to get a line aboard her, without success, until the cox decided no more could be done and the lifeboat started its return journey, from a point close to Ynys Llanddwyn. The lifeboat capsized and 5 of the 13 man crew were lost, and, a little later, 4 men from the Timbo as well. The ship eventually became stranded at Dinas Dinlle, was eventually refloated with the use of tugs until she struck Carreg y Trai reef off Abersoch and was lost.

Notable people

* Sir Edward Atholl Oakeley, 7th Baronet of Shrewsbury (1900–1987), a British professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, known under the ring name ''Atholl Oakeley''.

References

External links

Rhoscolyn Community WebsiteYsgol Gynradd Santes Gwenfaen, Rhoscolyn SchoolPhotos of Rhoscolyn and surrounding area on geograph
{{Communities of Anglesey