Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of
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 ...
. It forms the bulk of the
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes
Holy Island () and some islets and
skerries
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation.
Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to:
Geography
Northern Ireland
*Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...
. The county borders
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 ...
across 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 ...
to the southeast, and is otherwise surrounded by 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 ...
.
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 ...
is the largest town, and the administrative centre is
Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
. The county is part of the
preserved county
Preservation may refer to:
Heritage and conservation
* Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible
* ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...
of Gwynedd. Anglesey is the northernmost county in Wales.
The Isle of Anglesey has an area of and a population of in .
After Holyhead (12,103), the largest settlements are Llangefni (5,500) and
Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
(3,967). The economy of the county is mostly based on agriculture, energy, and tourism, the latter especially on the coast. Holyhead is also a major ferry port for
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ireland. The county has the second-highest percentage of
Welsh speakers in Wales, at 57.2%, and is considered a
heartland of the language.
The island of Anglesey, at , is the
largest in Wales and 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 ...
, the
seventh largest in Britain, and the sixth most populous island in Britain. The northern and eastern coasts of the island are rugged, and the southern and western coasts are generally gentler; the interior is gently undulating. In the north of the island is
Llyn Alaw
Llyn Alaw (meaning: ''Lily Lake'') is a man-made reservoir on Anglesey, North Wales managed by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. It is a shallow lake and was built in 1966. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a destination for overwintering b ...
, a reservoir with an area of .
Holy Island has a similar landscape, with a rugged north and west coast and beaches to the east and south. The county is surrounded by smaller islands; several, including
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
Puffin Island, are home to seabird colonies. Large parts of the county's coastline have been designated an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
.
The county has many prehistoric monuments, such as
Bryn Celli Ddu
Bryn Celli Ddu () is a prehistoric site on the Wales, Welsh island of Anglesey located near Llanddaniel Fab. Its Welsh placenames, name means 'the mound in the dark grove'. It was archaeologically excavated between 1928 and 1929. Visitors can ge ...
burial chamber. In the Middle Ages the area was part of the
Kingdom of Gwynedd
The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire Succession of states, successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon ...
and its cadet branch the
House of Aberffraw
The House of Aberffraw was a medieval royal court based in the village it was named after, Aberffraw, Anglesey (Wales, UK) within the borders of the then Kingdom of Gwynedd. The dynasty was founded in the 9th century by a King in Wales whose de ...
who maintained courts () at
Aberffraw
Aberffraw is a village and community (Wales), community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. The village is 9 miles from the island's county town, Llangefni, and is on the west bank of the Afon Ffraw (Ffraw River). The com ...
and
Rhosyr. After
Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
's late 13th century
conquest
Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...
of Gwynedd,
Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris Castle ( ; , ), in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, was built as part of Edward I of England, Edward I's Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England, campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct t ...
was constructed and today is a part of
Gwynedd's world heritage sites.
The Menai Strait to the mainland is spanned by 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 ...
, designed by
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...
in 1826, and the
Britannia Bridge
Britannia Bridge () is a bridge in Wales that crosses the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and city of Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor. It was originally designed and built by the noted railway engineer Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of ...
, originally designed by
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...
in 1850.
Name
The English name for Anglesey might be derived from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
, either "Hook Island"
or "Ǫngli's Island".
No record of such an Ǫngli survives, but the place name was used by Viking raiders as early as the 10th century and later adopted by the Normans during their invasions of Gwynedd. The traditional folk etymology
Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...
reading the name as the "Island of the Angles
Angles most commonly refers to:
*Angles (tribe), a Germanic-speaking people that took their name from the Angeln cultural region in Germany
*Angle, a geometric figure formed by two rays meeting at a common point
Angles may also refer to:
Places ...
(English)" may account for its Norman use but has no merit;[ the Angles' name itself is probably cognate with the shape of the ]Angeln
Angeln (; ) is a peninsula on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Jutland, in the Bay of Kiel. It forms part of Southern Schleswig, the northernmost region of Germany. The peninsula is bounded on the north by the Flensburg Firth, which separates it ...
peninsula. All of them ultimately derive from the proposed Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
root ''*ank-'' ("to flex, bend, angle"). Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and into the 20th, it was usually spelt Anglesea in documents, a spelling that is still occasionally used today.
''Ynys Môn'', the island and county's Welsh name, first appeared in the Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
of various Roman sources. It was likewise known to the Saxons
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
as ''Monez''. The Brittonic original was in the past taken to have meant "Island of the Cow".
The name is probably cognate with the Gaelic name of the Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
, [Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 676 & 679. ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0] ( in Welsh), usually derived from a Celtic word for 'mountain' (reflected in Welsh , Breton and Scottish Gaelic ), from a Proto-Celtic ''*moniyos''.
Poetic names for the island of Anglesey include the Old Welsh
Old Welsh () is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic around 550, ha ...
''Ynys Dywyll'' (Shady or Dark Isle) for its former groves and ''Ynys y Cedairn'' (Isle of the Brave) for its royal courts;[ ]Gerald of Wales
Gerald of Wales (; ; ; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He ...
' ''Môn Mam Cymru'' ("Môn, Mother of Wales") for its agricultural productivity; and ''Y fêl Ynys'' (Honey Isle).
History
Prehistory
The history of the settlement of the local people of Anglesey starts in the Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
period. Anglesey and Great Britain were uninhabitable until after the previous ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
. It was not until 12,000 years ago that the island of Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
became hospitable. The oldest excavated sites on Anglesey include ''Trwyn Du'' () at Aberffraw. The Mesolithic site located at Aberffraw Bay (Porth Terfyn) was buried underneath a Bronze Age 'kerb cairn' which was constructed . The bowl barrow
A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ker ...
(kerb cairn) covered a material deposited from the early Mesolithic period; the archeological find dates to 7000 BC. After millennia of hunter-gather
A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, especially wi ...
civilisation in the British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
, the first villages were constructed from 4000 BC. Neolithic settlements were built in the form of long houses, on Anglesey is one of the first villages in Wales, it was built at Llanfaethlu
Llanfaethlu is a village and community in the north west of Anglesey, in north-west Wales. The community population taken at the 2011 Census was 553. The village takes its name from the Church of Saint Maethlu. The community includes Llanfwro ...
. Also an example permanent settlement on Anglesey is of a Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
built burial mound
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
, Bryn Celli Ddu
Bryn Celli Ddu () is a prehistoric site on the Wales, Welsh island of Anglesey located near Llanddaniel Fab. Its Welsh placenames, name means 'the mound in the dark grove'. It was archaeologically excavated between 1928 and 1929. Visitors can ge ...
(). The mound started as a henge enclosure around 3000 BC and was adapted several times over a millennium.
There are numerous megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...
ic monuments and menhir
A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...
s in the county, testifying to the presence of humans in prehistory
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
. Plas Newydd is near one of 28 cromlechs that remain on uplands overlooking the sea. The Welsh Triads
The Welsh Triads (, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a rhetorical form whereby o ...
claim that the island of Anglesey was once part of the mainland.
Bronze Age to Roman times
After the Neolithic age, the Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
began ( – 800 BC). Some sites were continually used for thousands of years from original henge
A henge can be one of three related types of Neolithic Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches ...
enclosures, then during the Iron Age, and also some of these sites were later adapted by Celts
The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
into hillforts
A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some were used in the post- Roman period. The forti ...
and finally were in use during the Roman period (c. 100 AD) as roundhouses.[ Castell Bryn Gwyn (, also called ''Bryn Beddau'', or the "hill of graves") near ]Llanidan
Llanidan is a community in the south of Anglesey, Wales which includes the village of Brynsiencyn (). The parish is along the Menai Strait, about 4 miles north-east of Caernarfon (across the strait). The parish church of St Nidan is near the A ...
, Anglesey is an example of a Neolithic site that became a hillfort
A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...
that was used until the Roman period by the Ordovices
The Ordovīcēs (Common Brittonic: *''Ordowīces'') were one of the Celtic tribes living in Great Britain before the Roman invasion. Their tribal lands were located in present-day North Wales and England, between the Silures to the south and the ...
, the local tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
who were defeated in battle by a Roman legion (c. 78 AD). Bronze Age monuments were also built throughout the British Isles. During this period, the ''Mynydd Bach'' cairn
A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...
in South-west Anglesey was being used. It is a Beaker period prehistoric funerary monument.
During the Iron Age the Celts built dwellings huts
A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, clay, hid ...
, also known as roundhouses. These were established near the previous settlements. Some huts with walled enclosures were discovered on the banks of the river () Gwna near. An example of a well-preserved hut circle is over the Cymyran Strait on Holy Island. The Holyhead Mountain Hut Circles (, Big house / "Irishmen's Huts") were inhabited by ancient Celts and were first occupied before the Iron Age, . The Anglesey Iron Age began after 500 BC. Archeological research discovered limpet
Limpets are a group of aquatic snails with a conical gastropod shell, shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. This general category of conical shell is known as "patelliform" (dish-shaped). Existing within the class Gastropoda, ...
shells which were found from 200 BC on a wall at Tŷ Mawr and Roman-era pottery from the 3rd to 4th centuries AD. Some of these huts were still being used for agricultural purposes as late as the 6th century. The first excavation of Ty Mawr was conducted by William Owen Stanley
Hon. William Owen Stanley (13 November 1802 – 24 February 1884) was a British Liberal Party politician.
Life
Stanley was the son of John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley, and Lady Maria Josepha, daughter of John Holroyd, 1st Earl of S ...
of Penrhos, Anglesey
Penrhos was a large estate on Holy Island, Anglesey, in north-west Wales.
History
In 1553, during Edward VI's reign, Penrhos was granted to John-ap-Owen (also known as John Derwas). At this time, the land consisted of little more than the Pen ...
(son of Baron Stanley of Alderley
Baron Stanley of Alderley, in the County of Chester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1839 for the politician and landowner Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet.
History
When the 1st Baron died in 1850, he was ...
).
Modern Anglesey
Roman occupation
Historically, Anglesey has long been associated with the druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
s. The Roman conquest of Anglesey
The Roman conquest of Anglesey refers to two separate invasions of Anglesey in North West Wales that occurred during the early decades of the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century Common Era, CE. The first invasion of North Wales began af ...
began in 60 AD when the Roman general 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 ...
, determined to break the power of the druids, attacked the island using his amphibious Batavian contingent as a surprise vanguard
The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
...
assault and then destroyed the shrine and the nemeta (sacred grove
Sacred groves, sacred woods, or sacred forests are groves of trees that have special religious importance within a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. These are forest areas that are, for the most ...
s). News of Boudica
Boudica or Boudicca (, from Brittonic languages, Brythonic * 'victory, win' + * 'having' suffix, i.e. 'Victorious Woman', known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh language, Welsh as , ) was a queen of the Iceni, ancient ...
's revolt reached him just after his victory, causing him to withdraw his army before consolidating his conquest. The island was finally brought into the Roman Empire by Gnaeus Julius Agricola
Gnaeus Julius Agricola (; 13 June 40 – 23 August 93) was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribu ...
, the Roman governor
A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many Roman province, provinces constituting the Roman Empire.
The generic term in Roman legal language was ''re ...
of Britain, in 78 AD. During the Roman occupation, the area was notable for the mining of copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
. The foundations of Caer Gybi, a fort in 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 ...
, are Roman, and the present road from Holyhead to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (), often shortened to Llanfairpwll and sometimes to Llanfair PG, is a village and community on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. It is located on the Menai Strait, next to the Britannia Bridge. At the ...
was originally a Roman road
Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
. The island was grouped by Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
with 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 ...
("Hibernia
() is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). In his book ''Geogr ...
") rather than with Britain ("Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...
").
Kingdom of Gwynedd and House of Aberffraw
After the Roman departure from Britain in the early 5th century, pirates from Ireland colonised Anglesey and the nearby Llŷn Peninsula
The Llŷn Peninsula ( or , ) is a peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, with an area of about , and a population of at least 20,000. It extends into the Irish Sea, and its southern coast is the northern boundary of the Tremadog Bay inlet of Cardigan Ba ...
. In response to this, Cunedda ap Edern, a Gododdin
The Gododdin () were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britannia, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North (modern south-east Scotland and north-east England), in the sub-Roman period. Descendants of the Votadini, they are best known ...
warlord from Scotland, came to the area and began to drive the Irish out. This was continued by his son Einion Yrth ap Cunedda
Einion Yrth ap Cunedda ( – c. 500; – c. 480), also known as Einion Yrth ( Welsh for "the Impetuous"), was a king of Gwynedd. He is claimed as an ancestor of the later rulers of North Wales.
One of the sons of Cunedda, he travelled with h ...
and grandson Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion; the last Irish invaders were finally defeated in battle in 470.
During the 9th century, King Rhodri Mawr
Rhodri ap Merfyn, commonly known as , was a Welsh king whose legacy has impacted the history of Wales. Rhodri rose to power during a tumultuous era, where the fate of Welsh kingdoms was often determined by the power of their leaders.
Early life ...
unified Wales and separated the country into at least 3 provinces between his sons. He gave Gwynedd to his son, Anarawd ap Rhodri
Anarawd ap Rhodri () was List of rulers of Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd from 878 to 916. He faced challenges from the Mercia, kingdom of Mercia and Vikings, Viking raiders during a period of uncertainty for his realm. Nonetheless, he managed to sec ...
, who founded the medieval
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 World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
Welsh dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
H ...
, The House of Aberffraw
The House of Aberffraw was a medieval royal court based in the village it was named after, Aberffraw, Anglesey (Wales, UK) within the borders of the then Kingdom of Gwynedd. The dynasty was founded in the 9th century by a King in Wales whose de ...
on Anglesey. The island had a good defensive position, and so Aberffraw
Aberffraw is a village and community (Wales), community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. The village is 9 miles from the island's county town, Llangefni, and is on the west bank of the Afon Ffraw (Ffraw River). The com ...
became the site of the royal court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...
() of the Kingdom of Gwynedd
The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire Succession of states, successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon ...
. Apart from devastating Danish raids in 853 and 968 in Aberffraw, it remained the capital until the 13th, after Rhodri Mawr had moved his family seat
A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...
from Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...
and built a royal palace
A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...
at Aberffraw in 873. This is when improvements to the English navy made the location indefensible. Anglesey was also briefly the most southerly possession of the Norwegian Empire.
After the Irish, the island was invaded by Vikings
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
—some raids were noted in famous saga
Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia.
The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...
s (see Menai Strait History) such as the Jómsvíkinga—and by Saxons
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
, and Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
, before falling to Edward I of England
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...
in the 13th century. The connection with the Vikings can be seen in the name of the island. In ancient times it was called "Maenige" and received the name "Ongulsey" or Angelsoen, from where the current name originates.[
Anglesey (with Holy Island) is one of the 13 ]historic counties of Wales
The historic counties of Wales () were the thirteen Subdivisions of Wales, sub-divisions used in Wales from 1535 up to their abolition in 1974 when they were replaced by Preserved counties of Wales, eight larger administrative counties (which i ...
. In medieval times, before the conquest of Wales in 1283, ''Môn'' often had periods of temporary independence, when frequently bequeathed to the heirs of kings as a sub-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 ...
, an example of this was ''Llywelyn ap Iorwerth
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominate ...
'' (Llywelyn I, the Great c. 1200s) who was styled the ''Prince of Aberffraw''. After the Norman invasion of Wales
The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright. Initially (1067–1081), the invasion of Wales was not undertaken with the fer ...
was one of the last times this occurred a few years after 1171, after the death of 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 ...
, when the island was inherited by Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd
Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd ( 1147 – 1195) was prince of part of Gwynedd, one of the kingdoms of medieval Wales. He ruled from 1175 to 1195.
On the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1170, fighting broke out among his nineteen sons over the division of hi ...
, and between 1246 and about 1255 when it was granted to Owain Goch
Owain Goch ap Gruffudd (also known as ''Owain Goch'' wain the Red (died 1282) was brother to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Dafydd ap Gruffudd and, for a brief period in the late 1240s and early 1250s, ruler of part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd (in moder ...
as his share of the kingdom. After the conquest of Wales by Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
, Anglesey became a county under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan
The Statute of Rhuddlan (), also known as the Statutes of Wales ( or ''Valliae'') or as the Statute of Wales ( or ''Valliae''), was a royal ordinance by Edward I of England, which gave the constitutional basis for the government of the Principal ...
of 1284. Hitherto it had been divided into the ''cantref
A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law.
Description
Land in medieval Wales was divid ...
i'' of Aberffraw
Aberffraw is a village and community (Wales), community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. The village is 9 miles from the island's county town, Llangefni, and is on the west bank of the Afon Ffraw (Ffraw River). The com ...
, Rhosyr and Cemaes
Cemaes () is a village on the north coast of Anglesey in Wales, sited on Cemaes Bay, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which is partly owned by the National Trust. It is the most northerly village in Wales (excluding the nearby hamlet of ...
.
During 1294 as a rebellion of the former house of Aberffraw, Prince Madog ap Llywelyn
Madog ap Llywelyn (died after 1312) was the leader of the Welsh revolt of 1294–95 against English rule in Wales. The revolt was surpassed in longevity only by the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr in the 15th century. Madog belonged to a junior branch ...
had attacked King Edward I's castles in 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 ...
. As a direct response, Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris Castle ( ; , ), in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, was built as part of Edward I of England, Edward I's Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England, campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct t ...
was constructed to control Edward's interests in Anglesey, but by the 1320s the build was abandoned and never complete. The castle was besieged by Owain Glyndŵr
Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 135420 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Glyn Dŵr, , anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh people, Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the Wales in the late Middle Ages, late Middle ...
in the early 15th century. It was ruinous by 1609; however, the 6th Viscount Bulkeley purchased the castle from the Crown in 1807 and it has been open to the public under the guardianship of the Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
ever since 1925.
17 to 20th centuries
Due to its geographic proximity, Anglesey (and particularly 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 ...
) enjoyed close cultural ties with Ireland throughout the later parts of this period. A 2023 study in ''The Welsh History Review
''The Welsh History Review'' (Welsh: Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru) is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of Wales. It is published in four parts per volume, one volume every two years. The journal was established in 1960. The editors- ...
'' by historian Adam N. Coward highlights the interconnectedness of landed gentry
The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...
families in Ireland and Anglesey between the 17th and 20th centuries, with connections ranging from close geographical proximity and shared transport networks to marriage and family ties. One example, the article notes, is that in 1663 the Duke of Ormonde
The peerage title Earl of Ormond and the related titles Duke of Ormonde and Marquess of Ormonde have a long and complex history. An earldom of Ormond has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland.
History of Ormonde titles
The earldom ...
wrote from Dublin Castle to Lord Bulkley of Baron Hill, Anglesey, who had been created Viscount Bulkeley of Cashel in 1644, about bringing partridges
A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perdic ...
from Anglesey to Ireland for a hunt.
20th century
The Shire Hall in Llangefni was completed in 1899. During the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the Presbyterian minister and celebrity preacher, John Williams, toured the island as part of an effort to recruit young men as volunteers. The island's location made it ideal for monitoring German U-Boats in 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 ...
, with half a dozen airships based at Mona. German POWs
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
were kept on the island. By the end of the war, some 1,000 of the island's men had died on active service.
In 1936 the NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...
opened its first branch on Anglesey.
During the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Anglesey received Italian POWs
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
. The island was designated a reception zone, and was home to evacuee children from 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 ...
and Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
.
In 1971, a 100,000 ton per annum aluminum smelter
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery.
This is an electrolytic ...
was opened by Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation and British Insulated Callender's Cables
British Insulated Callender's Cables (BICC) was a major British cable manufacturer and construction company of the 20th century. It has been renamed after its former subsidiary Balfour Beatty.
BICC was created via the merger of two long establi ...
with Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation as a 30 per cent partner.
Governance
In 1974, Anglesey became a district of the new county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
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 ...
known under the name “Anglesey-Ynys Môn”. Until 1974, Anglesey was divided into civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
es for the purpose of local government; these in large part equated to ecclesiastical parishes (see the table below), most of which still exist as part of the Church in Wales.
Parishes
(chapelries are listed in italics)
1a chapelry to Llantrisant in Lyfon hundred
The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...
abolished the 1974 county and the five districts on 1 April 1996, and Anglesey became a separate unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
. In 2011, the Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...
appointed a panel of commissioners to administer the council, which meant the elected members were not in control. The commissioners remained until an election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
was held in May 2013, restoring an elected Council. Before the period of direct administration, there had been a majority of independent councillors. Though members did not generally divide along party lines, these were organised into five non-partisan groups on the council, containing a mix of party and independent candidates. The position has been similar since the election, although the Labour Party has formed a governing coalition with the independents.
Brand new council offices were built at Llangefni in the 1990s for the new 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 ...
.
Geography
Physical
Anglesey is a low-lying island with low hills spaced evenly over the north. The highest six are Holyhead Mountain
Holyhead Mountain ( Welsh ''Mynydd Twr,'' from ''mynydd'' 'mountain, unenclosed land' and ''twr'' 'a heap, pile') is the highest point on Holy Island, Anglesey, and in the county of Anglesey, north Wales. It lies about two miles west of the town ...
, ; Mynydd Bodafon
is a small collection of peaks including which is the highest point on the island of Anglesey (although not in the county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers ...
, ; Mynydd Eilian, ; Mynydd y Garn, ; Bwrdd Arthur, ; and Mynydd Llwydiarth, . To the south and south-east, the island is divided from the Welsh mainland by 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 ...
, which at its narrowest point is about wide. In all other directions the island is surrounded by 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 ...
. At , it is the 52nd largest island of Europe and just smaller than the main island of Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
.
There are a few natural lakes, mostly in the west, such as Llyn Llywenan, the largest on the island, Llyn Coron, and Cors Cerrig y Daran, but rivers are few and small. There are two large water supply reservoirs operated by Welsh Water
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, of or about Wales
* Welsh language, spoken in Wales
* Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales
Places
* Welsh, Arkansas, U.S.
* Welsh, Louisiana, U.S.
* Welsh, Ohio, U.S.
* Welsh Basin, during t ...
. These are Llyn Alaw
Llyn Alaw (meaning: ''Lily Lake'') is a man-made reservoir on Anglesey, North Wales managed by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. It is a shallow lake and was built in 1966. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a destination for overwintering b ...
to the north of the island and 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 ...
in the centre of the island, which is fed by the headwaters of the Afon Cefni
Afon Cefni is one of the major rivers on the island of Anglesey, Wales. It is long. Its source is near to the village of Capel Coch, before flowing through Bodffordd and into Llyn Cefni in the centre of the island. It continues to run south ...
.
The climate is humid (though less so than neighbouring mountainous 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 ...
) and generally equable thanks to the Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
. The land is of variable quality and has probably lost some fertility. Anglesey has the northernmost olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
grove in Europe and presumably in the world.
Human
The coast of the Isle of Anglesey is more populous than the interior. The largest 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 ...
is 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 ...
, which is located on Holy Island and had a population of 12,103 at the 2021 United Kingdom census
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, Numeral (linguistics), numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest Positive number, positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in o ...
. It is followed by Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
(3,697), Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf (3,085), and Menai Bridge
Menai Bridge (; usually referred to colloquially as ''Y Borth'') is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, j ...
(3,046), all located on the coast of the island of Anglesey. The largest community in the interior of Anglesey is Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
(5,500), the county town; the next-largest is Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog
Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog (occasionally spelt Llanfihangel Esgeifiog or Llanfihangelesgeifiog) is a community (Wales), community and St Michael's Church, Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog, former ecclesiastical parish in Anglesey, Wales, east of Llangefni.
D ...
(1,711).
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 ...
(Welsh: ''Biwmares'') in the east features Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris Castle ( ; , ), in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, was built as part of Edward I of England, Edward I's Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England, campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct t ...
, built by Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
during his Bastide
Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the 13th and 14th centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the first bastides ...
campaign in 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 ...
. Beaumaris is a yachting
Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...
centre, with boats moored in the bay or off Gallows Point. The village of Newborough (), in the south, created when townsfolk of Llanfaes were relocated for the building of Beaumaris Castle, includes the site of Llys Rhosyr
Llys Rhosyr, also known as "Cae Llys", is an archaeological site near Newborough in Anglesey; the ruins of a pre-Edwardian commotal court.
History and description
The Welsh word ''llys'' originally referred to an enclosed open-air space but ...
, another court of medieval Welsh princes featuring one of the United Kingdom's oldest courtrooms. The centrally localted Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
is the island's administrative centre. The town of Menai Bridge
Menai Bridge (; usually referred to colloquially as ''Y Borth'') is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, j ...
(Welsh: ) in the south-east, expanded to accommodate workers and construction when the first bridge to the mainland was being built. Hitherto Porthaethwy had been one of the main ferry ports for the mainland. A short distance from the town lies Bryn Celli Ddu
Bryn Celli Ddu () is a prehistoric site on the Wales, Welsh island of Anglesey located near Llanddaniel Fab. Its Welsh placenames, name means 'the mound in the dark grove'. It was archaeologically excavated between 1928 and 1929. Visitors can ge ...
, a Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
burial mound.
Nearby is the village with the longest name in Europe, Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (), often shortened to Llanfairpwll and sometimes to Llanfair PG, is a village and community on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. It is located on the Menai Strait, next to the Britannia Bridge. At the ...
gogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, and Plas Newydd, ancestral home of the Marquesses of Anglesey
A marquess (; ) is a Nobility, nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife ...
. The town of Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
lies in the north-east of the island and was once largely industrialised, having grown in the 18th century to support a major copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
-mining industry at Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain () is located south of the town of Amlwch in north east Anglesey, Wales. Originally known as Trysclwyn, the high ground is reputed to have gained its current name when it was given to Robert Parys, Chamberlain of North Wales by ...
.
Other settlements include Cemaes
Cemaes () is a village on the north coast of Anglesey in Wales, sited on Cemaes Bay, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which is partly owned by the National Trust. It is the most northerly village in Wales (excluding the nearby hamlet of ...
, Pentraeth
Pentraeth () is a village and Community (Wales), community on the island of Anglesey (''Ynys Môn''), North Wales, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL75. The community population taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 1,178 ...
, Gaerwen
Gaerwen () is a village on the island of Anglesey in the community of Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog in Wales. It is located in the south of the island west of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and southeast of Llangefni . The A5 runs through the village, and t ...
, Dwyran
Dwyran is a village on the island of Anglesey, in north-west 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 Englan ...
, Bodedern
Bodedern is a village and community (Wales), community in the west of Anglesey, Wales.
At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,074, decreasing slightly to 1,051 at the 2011 census. The community includes the settlements of Llanllibio and Pe ...
, Malltraeth and Rhosneigr
Rhosneigr () is a village in the south-west of Anglesey, north Wales. It is situated on the A4080 road. It is south-east of Holyhead, and is on the Anglesey Coastal Path. From the clock at the centre of the village can be seen RAF Valley an ...
.
Coastal path
The coastline is classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
, with many sandy beaches, notably along its east coast between Beaumaris and Amlwch and west coast from Ynys Llanddwyn through Rhosneigr
Rhosneigr () is a village in the south-west of Anglesey, north Wales. It is situated on the A4080 road. It is south-east of Holyhead, and is on the Anglesey Coastal Path. From the clock at the centre of the village can be seen RAF Valley an ...
to the bays around Carmel Head. The north coast has sharp cliffs with small bays. 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. ...
outlining the island is long and touches 20 towns and villages. The starting point is St Cybi's Church, Holyhead
St Cybi's Church is a medieval church near the Roman Caer Gybi in Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales. The church was Grade I listed in January 1968. The original church was constructed at Holyhead around 540 AD by St Cybi, a cousin of St David. The chu ...
.
Economy
Tourism is now the major economic activity. Agriculture comes second, with local dairies being some of the most productive in the region.
Major industry is restricted to Holyhead (Caergybi), which until 30 September 2009 supported an aluminium smelter
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an List of alumina refineries, alumina refinery. ...
, and the Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
area, once a copper mining town. Nearby stood Wylfa Nuclear Power Station
Wylfa nuclear power station () is a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. Wylfa is situated west of Cemaes Bay on the island of Anglesey, off the northwestern coast of Wales. Construction of the two 490MW nuclear reactors ...
and a former bromine
Bromine is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a similarly coloured vapour. Its properties are intermediate between th ...
extraction plant. With construction starting in 1963, the two Wylfa reactors began producing power in 1971. One reactor was decommissioned in 2012, the other in 2015.
Anglesey has three wind farms on land. There were plans to install tidal-flow turbines near The Skerries off the north coast, and for a major biomass
Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...
plant on Holy Island (Ynys Gybi). Developing such low-carbon-energy assets to their full potential forms part of the Anglesey Energy Island project.[Anglesey Today: Energy]
accessed 15 April 2014
When the aluminium smelter closed in September 2009, it cut its workforce from 450 to 80, in a major blow to the island's economy, especially to Holyhead. The Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
station RAF Valley
Royal Air Force Valley or more simply RAF Valley () is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides both basic and advanced fast-jet training using the Beechcraft Texan T. ...
(Y Fali) holds the RAF Fast Jet Training School and 22 Sqn Search and Rescue Helicopters, both units providing employment to about 500 civilians. RAF Valley is now the 22 Sqn Search and Rescue headquarters.
The range of smaller industries is mostly in industrial and business parks such as Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
and Gaerwen
Gaerwen () is a village on the island of Anglesey in the community of Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog in Wales. It is located in the south of the island west of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and southeast of Llangefni . The A5 runs through the village, and t ...
. The island is on one of the main road routes from Britain to Ireland, via 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.
...
from 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 ...
on Holy Island to Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
and Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
Port.
The Anglesey Sea Zoo is a local attraction offering looks at local marine wildlife
Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...
from common lobsters to conger
''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during the day in parts of t ...
s. All fish and crustacean
Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
s on display are caught round the island and placed in habitat reconstructions. The zoo also breeds lobsters commercially for food and 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 ...
s for pearls, both from local stocks. Sea salt ('' Halen Môn'', from local sea water) is produced in a facility nearby, having formerly been made at the Sea Zoo site.
Abandoned nuclear plan
Plans were offered in 2013 by Horizon
The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...
, a subsidiary of Hitachi
() is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
, to start production in the 2020s. Though enthusiastically endorsed by Anglesey Council and Welsh Assembly members, protesters raised doubts about its economic and safety claims, and in January 2019 Hitachi announced it was putting development on hold.
On 17 January 2019, Hitachi-Horizon Nuclear Power announced it was abandoning plans to build a nuclear plant on the Wylfa Newydd site in Anglesey. There had been concern that the start might have involved too much public expenditure, but Hitachi-Horizon say the decision to scrap has cost the company over £2 billion.
Ecology and conservation
Much of Anglesey is used for relatively intensive cattle and sheep farming, but several important wetland
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
sites have protected status and the lakes all have significant ecological interest, including a wide range of aquatic and semi-aquatic bird species. In the west, the Malltraeth Marsh
Malltraeth Marsh (also spelled as Malldraeth; or ) is a large marsh area in Anglesey, North Wales, north-east of Malltraeth village, along the flatlands of Trefdraeth, Bodorgan, Llangristiolus and south of Cefn Cwmwd, Rhostrehwfa. It was recla ...
es are believed to support an occasional visiting bittern
Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' and various iterations of ''rared ...
, and the nearby estuary of the Afon Cefni
Afon Cefni is one of the major rivers on the island of Anglesey, Wales. It is long. Its source is near to the village of Capel Coch, before flowing through Bodffordd and into Llyn Cefni in the centre of the island. It continues to run south ...
has a bird population made famous internationally by the paintings of Charles Tunnicliffe
Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe, OBE, RA (1 December 1901 – 7 February 1979) was an internationally renowned naturalistic painter of British birds and other wildlife. He spent most of his working life on the Isle of Anglesey. He is popularly ...
, who lived and died at Malltraeth on the Cefni estuary. The RAF airstrip at Mona is a nesting site for skylark
''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially ...
s. The sheer cliff faces at 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 ...
near 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 ...
provide nesting sites for large numbers of auk
Auks or alcids are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the Uria, murres, guillemots, Aethia, auklets, puffins, and Brachyramphus, murrelets. The family contains 25 extant or recently extinct speci ...
s, including puffin
Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...
s, razorbill
The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a North Atlantic colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus ''Alca (bird), Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinus impennis' ...
s and guillemot
Guillemot is the common name for several species of seabird in the Alcidae or auk family, part of the order Charadriiformes. In Europe, the term covers two genera, '' Uria'' and '' Cepphus''. In North America the ''Uria'' species are called mu ...
s, along with chough
A chough ( ) is any of two species of passerine birds that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax'') and the Alpine chough (or yellow-billed chough) (''Pyr ...
s and peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...
s. Anglesey holds several tern species, including the roseate tern
The roseate tern (''Sterna dougallii'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name ''Sterna'' is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific ''dougallii'' refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McD ...
on three breeding sites – see Anglesey tern colonies.
There are marked occurrences of the ''Juncus subnodulosus''–''Cirsium palustre'' fen-meadow plant association
A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant ...
marked by hydrophilic grasses, sedges and forbs.
Anglesey supports two of the UK's remnant colonies of red squirrel
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris''), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia.
Taxonomy
There have been ...
s, at Pentraeth
Pentraeth () is a village and Community (Wales), community on the island of Anglesey (''Ynys Môn''), North Wales, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL75. The community population taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 1,178 ...
and Newborough.
Almost the whole coastline of Anglesey is designated as an Area of Outstandng Natural Beauty (AONB) to protect the aesthetic appeal and variety of the island's coastal landscape and habitats from inappropriate development. The coastal zone of Anglesey was classed as an AONB in 1966 and confirmed as such in 1967. The AONB is predominantly coastal, covering most of Anglesey's coastline, but includes Holyhead Mountain and Mynydd Bodafon. Large areas of other land protected by the AONB form the backdrop to the coast. The AONB is about 221 sq. m (85 sq mi) and is the largest in Wales, covering a third of the island.
A number of Anglesey habitats gain still greater protection through UK and European designations of their nature conservation value. These include:
*6 candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSACs)
*4 Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
*1 National Nature Reserve
*26 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
*52 Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs)
These support a variety of wildlife, such as harbour porpoise
The harbour porpoise (''Phocoena phocoena'') is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar ...
s and marsh fritillary
The marsh fritillary (''Euphydryas aurinia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name derives from one of its several habitats, marshland. The prolonged larval st ...
.
The AONB takes in three sections of open, undeveloped coastline designated as Heritage Coast. These non-statutory designations complement the AONB and cover about of the coastline. The sections are:
#North Anglesey
#Holyhead Mountain
#Aberffraw Bay
Popular recreations include sailing, angling, cycling, walking, wind surfing and jet skiing. They place pressures and demands on the AONB, while stoking the local economy.
Culture
Anglesey hosted the National Eisteddfod
The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...
in 1957, 1983, 1999, and 2017.
It belongs to the International Island Games Association
The International Island Games Association (IIGA) is the organising body for the Island Games, a friendly biennial multi-sport competition between teams from several European islands and other small territories (24 members from 8 nations). The ...
. Anglesey's biggest successes were at the 1997 Island Games
The 1997 Island Games were the seventh Island Games, and were held in Jersey, from June 28, to July 4, 1997.
Medal table
Sports
The sports chosen for the games were:
External links
Jersey 1997
{{Island Games
Island Games
Sport in Jersey
Is ...
in Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
, (11th in the medals table, with two gold, three silver and nine bronze medals) and the 2005 Island Games in the Shetland Islands
Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Uni ...
, (again 11th, with 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze).
The annual Anglesey Show is held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday of August. Farmers from around the country compete in livestock–rearing contests, including sheep and cattle. Other events include Gottwood, an electronic music and arts festival held each summer at the Carreglwyd estate.
Môn FM
MônFM is a bilingual community radio station serving Anglesey and Gwynedd.
The station is owned and operated by Gwy-Môn Media and broadcasts on 96.8, 102.1 and 102.5 FM and online from studios in Llangefni town centre.
Overview
MônFM broad ...
, a volunteer community radio station, broadcasts across the island from the county town, Llangefni, and also covers northern 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 ...
. Capital Anglesey & Gwynedd, a commercial contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...
station, broadcasts local news bulletins.
In 2017 filming took place for the Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
TV series ''Free Rein''. Scenes were used in all three series. Locations included Newborough Warren and Beaumaris Pier. In 2018, the BBC began a three-part series entitled ''Anglesey: Island Lives'', detailing the lives of several residents of the island. In the first episode, Kris Hughes, a noted companion of the Druid community and the The Druid Order, Anglesey Druid Order, was followed as the order marked the Summer Solstice.
Welsh language
Anglesey is a stronghold of the Welsh language. According to the 2011 census it was the local authority with the second highest proportion of Welsh speakers. The earlier percentages were these:
*1901: 91%
*1911: 89%
*1921: 88%
*1931: 87%
*1951: 80%
*1961: 75%
*1971: 66%
*1981: 61%
*1991: 62%
*2001: 60%
*2011: 57%
*2021: 55%
Today, Welsh is less widely used, but remains the dominant language in some areas, particularly in the centre, including Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
and some parts of the south coast. The island's five secondary schools vary widely in the proportions of their pupils from predominantly Welsh-speaking homes, and in those who can speak Welsh:
*Ysgol David Hughes (in Menai Bridge
Menai Bridge (; usually referred to colloquially as ''Y Borth'') is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, j ...
): 33% come from Welsh-speaking homes; 90% "can speak Welsh."
*Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni (in Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
): 68% of pupils speak Welsh as their first language; 87% of pupils take their exams through the medium of Welsh.
*Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones (in Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
): 34% of pupils come from Welsh-speaking homes; 82% sit the Welsh First Language General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE).
*Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern (in Bodedern
Bodedern is a village and community (Wales), community in the west of Anglesey, Wales.
At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,074, decreasing slightly to 1,051 at the 2011 census. The community includes the settlements of Llanllibio and Pe ...
): 67% of pupils come from Welsh-speaking homes; "a majority" speak Welsh fluently.
*Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi (in 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 ...
): 14% of pupils speak Welsh at home; 11% are taught the "Welsh First Language" curriculum.
Geology
The geology of Anglesey is complex and frequently targeted for geology field trips by schools and colleges. Younger strata in Anglesey rest upon a foundation of old Precambrian rocks that appear at the surface in four areas:
#a western region including 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 Llanfaethlu
Llanfaethlu is a village and community in the north west of Anglesey, in north-west Wales. The community population taken at the 2011 Census was 553. The village takes its name from the Church of Saint Maethlu. The community includes Llanfwro ...
#a central area about Aberffraw
Aberffraw is a village and community (Wales), community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. The village is 9 miles from the island's county town, Llangefni, and is on the west bank of the Afon Ffraw (Ffraw River). The com ...
and Trefdraeth
#an eastern region which includes Newborough, Gaerwen
Gaerwen () is a village on the island of Anglesey in the community of Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog in Wales. It is located in the south of the island west of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and southeast of Llangefni . The A5 runs through the village, and t ...
and Pentraeth
Pentraeth () is a village and Community (Wales), community on the island of Anglesey (''Ynys Môn''), North Wales, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL75. The community population taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 1,178 ...
#a coastal region at Menai Bridge#Glyn Garth, Glyn Garth between Menai Bridge
Menai Bridge (; usually referred to colloquially as ''Y Borth'') is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, j ...
and 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 ...
These rocks are schists and phyllites, often contorted and disturbed. The general line of strike of the formations in the island is from north-east to south-west. A belt of granite, granitic rocks lies just north-west of the central Precambrian mass, reaching from Llanfaelog near the coast to the vicinity of Llanerchymedd. Between this granite and the Precambrian of Holyhead is a narrow tract of Ordovician slates and grits with Llandovery beds in places, spreading out in the north of the island between Dulas Bay and Carmel Point. A small patch of Ordovician strata lies on the northern side of Beaumaris. In parts, these Ordovician rocks are much folded, crushed and metamorphosed, and associated with schists and altered volcanic rocks which are probably Precambrian. Between the eastern and central Precambrian masses Carboniferous rocks are found. Carboniferous Limestone occupies a broad area south of Lligwy Bay and Pentraeth, and sends a narrow spur in south-westwards by Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
to Malltraeth, Malltraeth Sands. It is underlain on the north-west by a red basement conglomerate and yellow sandstone (sometimes considered of Old Red Sandstone age). Limestone occurs again on the north coast around Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd, Llanfihangel and Llangoed; and in the south-west round Llanidan near 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 ...
. Puffin Island, Anglesey, Puffin Island is made of Carboniferous Limestone. Malltraeth#Malltraeth Marsh, Malltraeth Marsh is occupied by Coal Measures, and a small patch of the same formation appears near Tal-y-foel Ferry on the Menai Strait. A patch of rhyolite, rhyolitic/felsite, felsitic rocks forms Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain () is located south of the town of Amlwch in north east Anglesey, Wales. Originally known as Trysclwyn, the high ground is reputed to have gained its current name when it was given to Robert Parys, Chamberlain of North Wales by ...
, where copper and iron ochre have been worked. serpentine group, Serpentine (Mona Marble) is found near Llanfair-yn-Neubwll and upon the opposite shore in Holyhead. Anglesey is the only onshore part of the UK to have sediments dated to the Early Middle Miocene (?Langhian).
Under the name ''GeoMôn'', affirming its extraordinary geological heritage, the island gained membership of the European Geoparks Network in spring 2009. and the Global Network of National Geoparks, Global Geoparks Network in September 2010.
Landmarks
*Anglesey Circuit, Anglesey Motor Racing Circuit
* Anglesey Sea Zoo near Dwyran
Dwyran is a village on the island of Anglesey, in north-west 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 Englan ...
*Bays and beaches – Benllech, Cemlyn Bay and lagoon, Cemlyn, Red Wharf Bay, Red Wharf, and Rhosneigr
Rhosneigr () is a village in the south-west of Anglesey, north Wales. It is situated on the A4080 road. It is south-east of Holyhead, and is on the Anglesey Coastal Path. From the clock at the centre of the village can be seen RAF Valley an ...
*Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris Castle ( ; , ), in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, was built as part of Edward I of England, Edward I's Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England, campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct t ...
and Beaumaris Gaol, Gaol
*Cribinau – tidal island with 13th-century church
*Elin's Tower (Twr Elin) – RSPB reserve and the lighthouse at South Stack (Ynys Lawd) near 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 ...
*King Arthur's seat – near 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 ...
*Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (), often shortened to Llanfairpwll and sometimes to Llanfair PG, is a village and community on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. It is located on the Menai Strait, next to the Britannia Bridge. At the ...
, one of the longest place names in the world
* Malltraeth – centre for bird life and home of wildlife artist Charles Tunnicliffe
Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe, OBE, RA (1 December 1901 – 7 February 1979) was an internationally renowned naturalistic painter of British birds and other wildlife. He spent most of his working life on the Isle of Anglesey. He is popularly ...
*Moelfre, Anglesey, Moelfre – fishing village
*Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain () is located south of the town of Amlwch in north east Anglesey, Wales. Originally known as Trysclwyn, the high ground is reputed to have gained its current name when it was given to Robert Parys, Chamberlain of North Wales by ...
– copper mine dating to the early Bronze Age
*Penmon (place), Penmon – priory and dovecote
*The Skerries, Anglesey, Skerries Lighthouse – at the end of a low piece of submerged land, north-east 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 ...
*St Cybi's Church – historic church in Holyhead
*Stone Science Museum – privately run fossil museum near Pentraeth
Pentraeth () is a village and Community (Wales), community on the island of Anglesey (''Ynys Môn''), North Wales, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL75. The community population taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 1,178 ...
*Swtan longhouse and museum – owned by the National Trust and managed by the local community
*Working windmill – Llanddeusant, Anglesey, Llanddeusant
* Ynys Llanddwyn (Llanddwyn Island) – tidal island
Notable people
Born in Anglesey
*Tony Adams (actor), Tony Adams – actor (Anglesey, 1940)
*Stu Allan – radio and club DJ
*Billy Butler (DJ), Billy Butler - radio personalty (Amlwch, 1942)
*John C. Clarke – U.S. state politician (Anglesey, 1831)
*Grace Coddington – creative director for US ''Vogue'' (Anglesey, 1941)
*Charles Allen Duval – artist and writer (Beaumaris, 1810)
*Dawn French – actress, writer, comedian (Holyhead, 1957)
*Huw Garmon – actor (Anglesey, 1966)
*Hugh Griffith – Oscar-winning actor (Marianglas, 1912)
*Elen Gwdman – poet (fl. 1609)
*Meinir Gwilym – singer and songwriter (Llangristiolus, 1983)
*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 ...
– royal prince (Anglesey, c. 1100)
*Hywel Gwynfryn – radio and TV personality (Llangefni, 1942)
*Max Horton - British submariner during the First World War and commander-in-chief of the Western Approaches in the later half of the Second World War, responsible for British participation in the Battle of the Atlantic (Rhosneigr, 1883)
*Aled Jones – singer and television presenter (Llandegfan, 1970)
*John Jones (astronomer), John Jones – amateur astronomer (Bryngwyn Bach, Dwyran 1818 – Bangor 1898); a.k.a. Ioan Bryngwyn Bach and Y Seryddwr
*William Jones (mathematician), William Jones – mathematician (Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd, 1675)
*Julian Lewis Jones – actor, known for his portrayal of Karl Morris on the Sky 1 comedy ''Stella (UK TV series), Stella'' (Anglesey, 1968)
*John Morris-Jones – grammarian and poet (Llandrygarn, 1864)
*Edward Owen (artist), Edward Owen – 18th-century artist, notable for letters documenting life in London's art scene
*Goronwy Owen (poet), Goronwy Owen – 18th-century poet ( Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf, 1723)
*Osian Roberts – association football player and manager (Bodffordd)
*Tecwyn Roberts – NASA aerospace engineer and Director of Networks at Goddard Space Flight Center (Llanddaniel Fab, 1925)
*Hugh Owen Thomas – pioneering orthopaedic surgeon (Anglesey, 1836)
*:cy:Ifor Owen Thomas, Ifor Owen Thomas – operatic tenor, photographer and artist (Red Wharf Bay, 1892)
*Sefnyn – medieval court poet
*Owen Tudor – grandfather of Henry VII of England, Henry Tudor, married the widow of Henry V of England, Henry V, which gave the House of Tudor, Tudor family a claim on the Throne of England, English throne (Anglesey, ).
*Kyffin Williams – landscape painter (Llangefni, 1918)
*William Williams (VC), William Williams – recipient of the Victoria Cross (Amlwch, 1890)
*Andy Whitfield – actor (Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
, 1971)
*Death of Gareth Williams, Gareth Williams – employee of Britain's GCHQ signals intelligence agency (Anglesey, 1978)
Lived in Anglesey
*Rachel Davies (Rahel o Fôn) – preacher
*Henry Austin Dobson – poet and essayist (Plymouth, Devon 1840)
*Taron Egerton – actor and star of ''Rocketman (film), Rocketman'' (raised on Anglesey from age 3 to age 12)
*Ren Gill – musician, known as Ren, (born Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor, 1990; raised in Dwyran
Dwyran is a village on the island of Anglesey, in north-west 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 Englan ...
)
*Gareth Glyn – composer and broadcaster (since 1978)
*Wayne Hennessey – footballer, goalkeeper for the Wales national football team (Bangor, 1987)
*Lemmy, Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister – heavy metal bass player and singer, front man of Motörhead (Stoke-on-Trent, 1945)
*Glenys Kinnock – politician (Holyhead, 1950s)
* Marquesses of Anglesey
A marquess (; ) is a Nobility, nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife ...
– noble family from Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll
*Matthew Maynard – cricketer (Oldham, Lancashire 1966)
*George North – Wales national rugby union team, Wales rugby union international (born King's Lynn, 1992; family moved to Anglesey in his early childhood)
*Cara Hope – Wales national rugby union team, Wales rugby union international player (born Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor, 1993; raised in Llangaffo)
*Gruff Rhys – musician best known for being the leadman of Super Furry Animals grew up in Rachub, near Bethesda, Wales, Bethesda (Haverfordwest, 18 July 1970)
*Iain Duncan Smith – leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party 2001–2003, attended HMS Conway (school ship), HMS ''Conway'' School Ship Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll, 1968–1972.
*Charles Tunnicliffe
Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe, OBE, RA (1 December 1901 – 7 February 1979) was an internationally renowned naturalistic painter of British birds and other wildlife. He spent most of his working life on the Isle of Anglesey. He is popularly ...
– wildlife artist (Langley, Macclesfield, 1901)
*Naomi Watts – Oscar-nominated actress (born Kent, 1968)
*Rex Whistler – artist (born Eltham, Kent 1905)
*Maurice Wilks – father of the Land Rover, which was test driven on Newborough and Llanddona beach
*Prince William, Prince of Wales and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales. (2010–2013)
*Clive Woodward – rugby union player and England / British Lions coach, attended HMS Conway (school ship), HMS ''Conway'' School Ship Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll, 1969–1974.
Schools
Secondary schools:
*Ysgol David Hughes, Menai Bridge
Menai Bridge (; usually referred to colloquially as ''Y Borth'') is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, j ...
*Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni, Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
*Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones, Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
*Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern, Bodedern
Bodedern is a village and community (Wales), community in the west of Anglesey, Wales.
At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,074, decreasing slightly to 1,051 at the 2011 census. The community includes the settlements of Llanllibio and Pe ...
*Holyhead High School, Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi, 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 ...
There are 50 primary, all co-educational day schools.
Transport
Anglesey is linked to the mainland by the Britannia Bridge
Britannia Bridge () is a bridge in Wales that crosses the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and city of Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor. It was originally designed and built by the noted railway engineer Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of ...
, carrying the A55 road, A55 from 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 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 ...
, carrying the A5 road (Great Britain), A5 trunk road. The A5025 road, A5025 round the northern edge of Anglesey and the A4080 road, A4080 round the southern edge form a ring.
The North Wales Coast Line travels across the Britannia Bridge to Anglesey. The six railway stations on the island are Holyhead railway station, Holyhead, Valley railway station, Valley, Rhosneigr railway station, Rhosneigr, Ty Croes railway station, Ty Croes, Bodorgan railway station, Bodorgan and Llanfairpwll railway station, Llanfairpwll. Services operated by Avanti West Coast to Euston railway station, London Euston, and by Transport for Wales Rail to Chester railway station, Chester, Manchester Piccadilly railway station, Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street railway station, Birmingham New Street and Cardiff Central railway station, Cardiff Central. Historically the island was also served by the Anglesey Central Railway which ran from Gaerwen
Gaerwen () is a village on the island of Anglesey in the community of Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog in Wales. It is located in the south of the island west of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and southeast of Llangefni . The A5 runs through the village, and t ...
to Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
, and the Red Wharf Bay branch line between Holland Arms railway station and Red Wharf Bay.
Anglesey Airport, until 2020, had a twice-daily scheduled service to Cardiff Airport. The route was subsidised by the Welsh government and suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a 2022 review, the Welsh government announced that it would not reinstate the flights; travel between Cardiff and Anglesey now takes over four hours by road or rail.
The ferry port of Holyhead handles over two million passengers a year. Stena Line and Irish Ferries sail to Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
(previously to Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
), forming the main surface transport link from central and northern England and Wales to Ireland.
Sport and leisure
Anglesey is independently represented in the Island Games (as ''Ynys Môn''). The team finished joint 17th in the 2009 Island Games, 2009 Games hosted by Åland, winning medals in gymnastics, sailing (sport), sailing, and shooting sports, shooting.
Anglesey made an unsuccessful bid for the 2009 games, led by Ynys Môn MP Albert Owen, in the hope of more than £3m of spending if it had hosted the event. However, Anglesey lacks two needful facilities: a six-lane competition swimming pool and an athletics track.
Several precursors to the modern football codes were popular in Anglesey. They had few rules and were quite violent. Rhys Cox at the turn of the 18th century described a game in Llandrygan ending with "numbers of players... left here and there on the road, some having limbs broken in the struggle, others severely injured, and some carried on biers to be buried in the churchyard nearest to where they had been mortally injured." William Bulkeley, in his April 1734 diary, records that the violence of such games left no hard feelings, with both sides parting "as good friends as they came, after they had spent half an hour together cherishing their spirits with a cup of ale... having finished Easter Holydays innocently and merrily."
Association football
This arrived in the 1870s and met with local resistance for its perceived associations with drunkenness and rowdiness and the lower classes. One critic called it an "un-Christian practice". An Anglesey League of teams from Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
, 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 ...
, 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 ...
, Menai Bridge
Menai Bridge (; usually referred to colloquially as ''Y Borth'') is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, j ...
, Llandegfan, and Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
was formed in the 1895–96 season. This gave way in 2020 to the North Wales Coast West Football League.
The Anglesey football team, Ynys Môn football team represents Anglesey at the biannual Island Games, winning gold in 1999. In 2018, the island was chosen to host the 2019 Inter Games Football Tournament, where the men's team won gold and the women's team won silver.
For the 2020–21 Cymru North, aborted 2020–21 season, Llangefni Town F.C., Llangefni Town and Holyhead Hotspur F.C., Holyhead Hotspur were due to play in the Cymru North league, the second tier of the Welsh football league system, after winning the Welsh Alliance League two years before. There were due to be nine Anglesey sides in the same season's fourth tier North Wales Coast West Football League Premier Division: C.P.D. Aberffraw, Aberffraw, Amlwch Town F.C., Amlwch Town, Bodedern Athletic F.C., Bodedern Athletic, Bro Goronwy, Gaerwen, C.P.D. Gwalchmai, Gwalchmai, Menai Bridge Tigers, Pentraeth and Trearddur Bay Bulls. There are a further nine teams in Division One.
Rugby Union
Llangefni RFC is the island's highest competing team in the WRU Division One North. Llangoed hosts an annual rugby sevens contest. Touring sides have included Manhattan RFC.
Anglesey Hunt
Anglesey Hunt, formed in 1757, was the second oldest fox hunting association in Wales after Tivyside Hunt in Cardiganshire.
Athletics
Every September the Anglesey Festival of Running includes a marathon, a half-marathon, 10-km and 5-km races, and children's contests. Its slogan is ''Run the Island''. There are at present no 400-metre, all-weather, synthetic Running track, tracks on the island, the nearest being between Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor and the Britannia Bridge
Britannia Bridge () is a bridge in Wales that crosses the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and city of Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor. It was originally designed and built by the noted railway engineer Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of ...
on the mainland.
Motorsport
The Anglesey Circuit (Welsh: Trac Môn) is a licensed MSA and ACU championship racing circuit that opened in 1997. It hosts many events all year round and is a popular track.
Cricket
The Beaumaris Cricket Club formed in 1858. Clubs at 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 ...
, Amlwch
Amlwch () is a port town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 road, A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Am ...
and Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
formed in the following decade, but not until the 1880s was the sport popular outside the upper classes. Bodedern
Bodedern is a village and community (Wales), community in the west of Anglesey, Wales.
At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,074, decreasing slightly to 1,051 at the 2011 census. The community includes the settlements of Llanllibio and Pe ...
Cricket Club was formed in 1947.
Sailing
The Royal Anglesey Yacht Club hosts the annual Menai Strait Regatta.
Swimming
The Menai Strait hosts two annual open-water contests: the Menai Strait Swim from Foel to Caernarfon (1 mile), and the Pier to Pier Open Water Swim, between Beaumaris Pier, Beaumaris and Garth Pier, Bangor. There is a 25-metre pool at Plas Arthur Leisure Centre in Llangefni
; ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The community includes the village of Rhosmeirch.
Location
The ...
.
See also
*Prehistoric Wales
*Roman conquest of Anglesey
The Roman conquest of Anglesey refers to two separate invasions of Anglesey in North West Wales that occurred during the early decades of the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century Common Era, CE. The first invasion of North Wales began af ...
*List of scheduled monuments in Anglesey
*List of places in Anglesey
*List of Anglesey towns by population
*List of lord lieutenants of Anglesey
*List of custos rotulorums of Anglesey
*List of sheriffs of Anglesey
*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 ...
*Ynys Môn (UK Parliament constituency)
*Ynys Môn (Assembly constituency)
*List of islands of Wales – including those around Anglesey
*The Royal Navy's four ships named
*BNS Gomati, HMS ''Anglesey'' (P277)
Notes
References
*
*
*
Attribution
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Anglesey,
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wales
Counties of Wales
Principal areas of Wales
Cantrefs
Commotes of Gwynedd
Historic counties of Wales