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Anglesey

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Anglesey principal area
Ynys Môn
Geography
Area
- Total
- % Water 		Ranked 9th
714 km²
0.7%
Admin HQ Llangefni
Largest town Holyhead
ISO 3166-2 GB-AGY
ONS code 00NA
Demographics
Population:
- Total ()
- Density
  		Ranked

Ranked
/ km²
Ethnicity 98.1% White
Welsh language
- Any skills 		Ranked 2nd
70.4%
Politics
Arms of Isle of Anglesey County Council
Isle of Anglesey County Council
http://www.anglesey.gov.uk/
Control  
Member of Parliament
Assembly Members
MEPs Wales

Anglesey (historically Anglesea; Template:Lang-cy, pronounced /ˌənɨ̞s'mo:n/ (IPA)) is a predominantly Welsh-speaking island off the northwest coast of Wales. It is connected to the mainland by two bridges spanning the Menai Strait: the original Menai Suspension Bridge (carrying the A5), designed by Thomas Telford in 1826; and the newer reconstructed Britannia Bridge (originally designed by Robert Stephenson); which carries the A55 and the North Wales Coast Railway line.

Anglesey is also a county which includes Holy Island and other nearby small islands.

With an area of 276 square miles (715 km²), Anglesey is the largest Welsh island, and the fifth largest surrounding Britain.

History

There are numerous Megalithic monuments and Menhirs present on Anglesey testifying to the presence of mankind in prehistory.

Historically, Anglesey has long been associated with the Druids. In AD 60 the Roman general Suetonius Paulinus, determined to break the power of the Druids, attacked the island, destroying the shrine and the sacred groves. News of Boudicca'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 the governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola in AD 78. The Romans called the island Mona.

Môn is the Welsh name of Anglesey, but its origin is obscure, appearing first during the Roman era as 'Mona'. The 'English' name is in fact derived from the Old Norse, meaning 'Ongull's Island'. The alternative "isle (ey) of the Angles" is discredited. Old Welsh names are Ynys Dywyll ("Dark Isle") and Ynys y Cedairn (cedyrn or kedyrn; "Isle of brave folk"). It is the Mona of Tacitus (Ann. xiv. 29, Agr. xiv. 18), Pliny the Elder (iv. 16) and Dio Cassius (62). It is called Môn Mam Cymru ("Môn, Mother of Wales") by Giraldus Cambrensis, for the claimed ability of the fertile land to produce enough food for the whole of Wales. In reality, the claim was probably more directed at an ability to sustain Gwynedd. Clas Merddin, and Y fêl Ynys (honey isle) are other names. According to the Triads (67), Anglesey was once part of the mainland. 28 cromlechs remain on uplands overlooking the sea; e.g. at Plâs Newydd. The Druids were attacked in 61 by Suetonius Paulinus, and again in 78 by Agricola. The present road from Holyhead to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll may originally have been a Roman road, and a network of such roads on the island may await formal discovery. British and Roman sites, coins and ornaments have been dug up and discussed, especially by the 19th century romantic antiquarian, the Hon. Lord Stanley of Penrhos. The foundations of the fort in Holyhead are Roman.

At the end of the Roman period in the late 4th Century and early 5th Century pirates from Ireland colonised Anglesey and the nearby Llŷn Peninsula. In response to this a Brythonic warlord from the north of Britain called Cunedda came to the area and began the process of driving the Irish out. This process was continued by his son Einion ap Cunedda and grandson Cadwallon Lawhir until the last Irish were defeated in battle in 470. As an island Môn would usually be a good defensive position and because of this it was the site of the court or Llys of the kings and princes of Gwynedd at Aberffraw. Apart from a devastating Danish raid in 853 this was to remain the case until the thirteenth century when improvements to the English navy made it indefensible.

After the Irish, the island was invaded by Vikings, Saxons, and Normans before falling to King Edward I of England, in the 13th century.

Geography

Anglesey is a relatively low-lying island with slight risings such as Parys Mountain, Cadair Mynachdy (or Monachdy, i.e., "chair of the monastery"; there is a Nanner, "convent", not far away), Mynydd Bodafon and Holyhead Mountain.

Britannia Bridge from the east along the Menai Strait

Anglesey has many small towns scattered all around the island, making it quite evenly populated. Beaumaris (Welsh: Biwmares), to the south of the island, features Beaumaris Castle, built by Edward I as part of his campaign in North Wales. The town of Newborough (Welsh: Niwbwrch), created when the townfolk of Llanfaes were relocated to make way for the building of Beaumaris Castle, includes the site of Llys Rhosyr, another of the courts of the mediaeval Welsh princes and which features one of the oldest courtrooms in the United Kingdom. Beaumaris acts as a yachting centre for the region with many boats moored in the bay or off Gallows Point. Llangefni is located in the centre of the island and is also the island's administrative centre. The town of Menai Bridge (Welsh: Porthaethwy) expanded when the first bridge to the mainland was being built, in order to accommodate workers and construction. Up until that time Porthaethwy had been one of the principal ferry crossing points from the mainland. A short distance from this town lies Bryn Celli Ddu, a Stone Age burial mound. The town of Amlwch is situated in the northeast of the island and was once largely industrialised, having grown during the 18th century supporting the copper mining industry at Parys Mountain.

Anglesey closeup map

The island also has the village with the longest official place name in the United Kingdom, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Other towns and settlements include Cemaes, Benllech, Pentraeth, Gaerwen, Dwyran, Bodedern and Rhosneigr. The Anglesey Sea Zoo is a local tourist attraction, providing a look at and descriptions of local marine wildlife from lobsters to conger eels. All the fish and crustaceans on display are caught around the island and are placed in reconstructions of their natural habitat. They also make salt (evaporated from the local sea water) and commercially breed lobsters, for food, and oysters, for pearls, both from local stocks.

The island's entire rural coastline had been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and features many sandy beaches, especially along its eastern coast between the towns of Beaumaris and Amlwch and along the western coast from Ynys Llanddwyn through Rhosneigr to the little bays around Carmel Head. The northern coastline is characterised by dramatic cliffs interspersed with small bays. The Anglesey Coastal Path is a 125-mile (200-km) path which follows nearly the entire coastline. Tourism is now the most significant economic activity on the island. Agriculture provides the secondary source of income for the island's economy, with the local dairies being amongst the most productive in the region. There is also a nuclear power station, at Wylfa Head on the north coast.

Major industries are restricted to Holyhead which supports an aluminium smelter and the Amlwch area where the Wylfa nuclear power station is located close to a former bromine extraction plant. The nuclear power station is scheduled to close in or around 2010, and the aluminium smelting operation is likely to close as a consequence of losing its affordable local electricity supply. There is a wide range of smaller industries, mostly located in industrial and business parks especially at Llangefni and Gaerwen. These industries include an abbatoir and fine chemicals manufacture as well as factories for timber production, aluminium smelting, fish farming and food processing.

Wind power is developing on Anglesey with more than 20 commercial wind turbines established near to the north coast. The strong sea currents around the island are also attracting the interest of electricity generation companies interested in exploiting tidal power.

The island is also on one of the major routes from Britain to Ireland, via ferries from Holyhead, off the west of Anglesey on Holy Island, to Dún Laoghaire and Dublin Port.

There are a few lakes mostly in the west, such as Cors Cerrig y Daran, but rivers are few and small. There are two large water supply reservoirs operated by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. These are Llyn Cefni in the centre of the island, which is fed by the headwaters of the Afon Cefni, and Llyn Alaw to the north of the island. Llyn Llywenan is the largest natural lake on the island.

The climate is humid but generally equable under the effects of the Gulf Stream bathing the island. The land is of variable quality and it may have been more fertile in the past.

See the list of places in Anglesey for all villages, towns and cities.
See the List of Anglesey towns by population for populations.

Ecology and conservation

Much of Anglesey is covered with relatively intensive cattle and sheep farming aided by modern agro-chemicals. In these areas there is little of ecological conservation worth. However there are a number of important wetland sites which have protected status. In addition the several lakes all have significant ecological interest including their support for a wide range of aquatic and semi-aquatic bird species. In the west, the Malltraeth marshes are believed to be supporting an occasional visiting Bittern and the nearby estuary of the Afon Cefni supports a bird population made internationally famous by the paintings of Charles Tunnicliffe. The RAF airstrip at Mona is a nesting site for skylarks.

The sheer cliff faces at South Stack near Holyhead provide nesting sites for huge numbers of auks including Puffins, Razorbills and Guillemots together with Choughs and Peregrine falcons.

Three sites on Anglesey are important for breeding terns - see Anglesey tern colonies.

Anglesey is home to two of the UK's small number of remaining colonies of Red Squirrels, at Pentraeth and Newborough. [1]

Almost the entire coastline of Anglesey is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The coastal zone of Anglesey was designated as an AONB in 1966 and was confirmed in 1967. It was designated in order to protect the aesthetic appeal and variety of the island’s coastal landscape and habitats from inappropriate development.

The AONB is predominantly a coastal designation, covering most of Anglesey’s 201-kilometre (125-mile) coastline but also encompasses Holyhead Mountain and Mynydd Bodafon. Substantial areas of other land protected by the AONB form the backdrop to the coast.

The approximate coverage of the Anglesey AONB is 221 km², and it is the largest AONB in Wales covering as it does one third of the island.

A number of the habitats found on Anglesey are afforded even greater protection both through UK and European designations because 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 protected habitats support a variety of wildlife such as Harbour Porpoises and Marsh Fritillaries.

The AONB also takes in three sections of open, undeveloped coastline which have been designated as Heritage Coast. These non-statutory designations complement the AONB and cover approximately 50 km (31 miles) of the coastline. The sections of Heritage Coast are:

north Anglesey 28.6 km (17 miles) Holyhead Mountain 12.9 km (8 miles) Aberffraw Bay 7.7 km (4.5 miles) A Living and Working Landscape Employment within the AONB is mainly based on agriculture and tourism and in some cases a combination of both. The range of local produce found on the island is quite varied from cheese and chocolate to wine. In a number of instances the local produce is also organic.

Approximately 2 million people visit the island each year attracting people from North Wales the North West of England and also visitors from overseas. In terms of recreation the island offers a number of opportunities to both residents and visitors alike, the majority enjoying the fine sandy beaches and the coastal landscape.

The most popular forms of recreation include sailing, angling, cycling, walking, wind surfing and jet skiing. These all place pressures and demands on the AONB. At the same time, the AONBs popularity for such activities clearly provides a contribution to the local economy.

[2]

Natural history

References: Jones, W.E. (Ed.)1968. Natural History of Anglesey. Anglesey Antiquarian Society, Llangefni.

Llanddwyn Island old lighthouse with Snowdonia in background.

Culture

  • Anglesey/Ynys Môn is a member island of the International Island Games Association. The most recent Island Games were held in 2007 on Rhodes (Greece). Anglesey/Ynys Môn came 15th on the medal table with 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals. The 2009 Games will be held on the Åland Islands (Finland) and the 2011 Games will be held on the Isle of Wight (UK). In the 2005 Games, held on the Shetland Islands, Anglesey/Ynys Môn came 11th on the medal table with 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. The Isle of Anglesey/Ynys Môn Island Games Association plan to make a bid to host the 2015 Island Games.
  • Anglesey has featured in the Channel 4 television archaeology series, 'Time Team' (series 14) - programme transmission date 4 February 2007.
  • Anglesey has the second highest population of native Welsh language speakers in Wales (70% of the population).

Geology

The geology of Anglesey is notably complex and is frequently used for geology field trips by schools and colleges. Younger strata in Anglesey rest upon a foundation of very old pre-Cambrian rocks that appear at the surface in four areas:

  1. a western region including Holyhead and Llanfaethlu,
  2. a central area about Aberffraw and Trefdraeth,
  3. an eastern region which includes Newborough, Caerwen and Pentraeth and
  4. a coastal region at Glyn Garth between Menai Bridge and Beaumaris.

These pre-Cambrian rocks are schists and slates, often much contorted and disturbed. The general line of strike of the formations in the island is from north-east to south-west. A belt of granitic rocks lies immediately north-west of the central pre-Cambrian mass, reaching from Llanfaelog near the coast to the vicinity of Llanerchymedd. Between this granite and the pre-Cambrian of Holyhead is a narrow tract of Ordovician slates and grits with Llandovery beds in places; this tract spreads 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 they are associated with schists and altered volcanic rocks which are probably pre-Cambrian. Between the eastern and central pre-Cambrian masses carboniferous rocks are found. The carboniferous limestone occupies a broad area south of Lligwy Bay and Pentraeth, and sends a narrow spur in a south-westerly direction by Llangefni to Malltraeth sands. The limestone is underlain on the north-west by a red basement conglomerate and yellow sandstone (sometimes considered to be of Old Red Sandstone age). Limestone occurs again on the north coast about Llanfihangel and Llangoed; and in the south-west round Llanidan on the border of the Menai Strait. Puffin Island is made of carboniferous limestone. Malltraeth marsh is occupied by coal measures, and a small patch of the same formation appears near Tall-y-foel Ferry on the Menai Strait. A patch of granitic and felsitic rocks form Parys Mountain, where copper and iron ochre have been worked. Serpentine (Mona Marble) is found near Llanfairynneubwll and upon the opposite shore in Holyhead. There are abundant evidences of glaciation, and much boulder clay and drift sand covers the older rocks. Patches of brown sand occur on the south-west coast.

A Google Earth .kmz file, Anglesey.kmz, Anglesey.kml, showing important geological locations on Anglesey, and including a number of geological map overlays, can be downloaded from: Google Earth Geology, whereas a historiography of geological research on Anglesey is available at: Historiography of Geological Research

Other places of interest

Sons and daughters of Anglesey

Born on Anglesey

Lived on Anglesey

Government

see also: Isle of Anglesey County Council

Anglesey (together with Holy Island) is one of the thirteen traditional counties of Wales. In medieval times, before the conquest of Wales in 1283, Môn often had periods of temporary independence as it was frequently bequeathed to the heirs of kings as a sub kingdom of Gwynedd. The last times this occurred were for a few years after 1171 following the death of Owain Gwynedd when the island was inherited by Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd and again between 1246 - c.1255 when it was given to Owain Goch as his share of the kingdom. Following the conquest of Wales by Edward I it was created a county under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan of 1284. Prior to this it had been divided into the cantrefi of:

In 1974 it formed a district of the new large county of Gwynedd, until in the 1996 reform of local government it was restored as a local government county. The county council is a unitary authority and is named "Isle of Anglesey County Council" (Template:Lang-cy). While there is currently a majority of independent councillors, the council is under no overall control, as the members do not generally divide along party lines. The only party group on the council is that of Plaid Cymru. There are five non-partisan groups on the council, containing a mix of party and independent candidates. The largest of these groups is Môn Ymlaen/Anglesey Forward, with 15 members out of the 40 in total.

See also

Template:Wales traditional counties

53°17′N 4°20′W / 53.283°N 4.333°W / 53.283; -4.333

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