369 



ANGLESEY, 



ANGLESEY. 



370 



general direction of the coast on the north-east side of Anglesey is 

 similar to that on the south-west side (namely, north-west and south- 

 east) except near Beaumaris, where the land juts out into the sea. 

 The remaining part of the coast from the extremity of Holyhead 

 Island first curves inward, forming Holyhead Bay, and then runs east 

 to beyond Amlwch. The length of a line drawn from south-west 

 to north-east, along the shore of the Menai from Aber-Meuai Ferry 

 to Trwyndu Point, opposite the little island of Priestholm, is 17 

 miles : a line drawn at right angles to the above from Camel's Point, 

 in the north-west, to the Menai, is about 20 miles long ; and these 

 may be taken as the breadth and length of the island. The area of 

 Anglesey is 271 square miles, or 173,440 acres : the population in 

 1851 was 57,327. There are several smaller islands round the coast 

 Holyhead, the largest of these, is at the western extremity ; Priest- 

 holm, or Puffin Island (so called from the number of puffins which 

 frequent it), at the eastern ; the others are insignificant. 



Anglesey had in early times the names of Ynys-Dowell (the Shady 

 or Dark Island), Ynys-Fon (the Farthermost Island), and Ynys-y- 

 Cedeirn (the Island of Heroes). By the Latin historians it is called 

 Mona (as is also the Isle of Man) ; the name of Anglesey (Angle's 

 ey, Englishman's Island) it received from the Saxons. It was a great 

 seat of Druidical superstition. Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman com- 

 mander, landed here (A.D. 01) in spite of the resistance of the natives, 

 and the terrors which the Druids sought to strike into the hearts of 

 the invaders : he cut down the sacred groves, and gave a blow to the 

 Druidicul superstition from which it never recovered. The island 

 was abandoned by the Romans for a time, in consequence of the great 

 revolt under Boadicea, and again conquered by Agricola, A.D. 76. 

 Several no-called Druidical remains still exist, as cromlechs (flat stones 

 resting upon others), carnedds (heaps of stones), and vestiges of stone 

 circles. In the park of Plas Ncwydd, the seat of the Marquis of 

 Anglesey, are two cromlechs close by each other ; the larger has its 

 upper stone 12 feet long, 10 feet broad, and 4 feet thick, supported 

 by four tall stones. Four or five hundred yards from these cromlechs 

 is a carnedd, which was opened in the last century, but "being found 

 to contain human bones, the workmen were ordered to desist." It is 

 now tolerably certain that cromlechs, as well as carnedds, were sepul- 

 chral, and not, as generally supposed, sacrificial structures. That 

 they had any connection with Druidic rites is indeed very doubtful. 









Cromlech at Plas Ncwydd. 



There are some other double cromlechs in the island besides that hi 

 Plas Newydd Park. At Tre'r Dry w, in the parish of Llanidan, is a 

 large circular inclosure 180 feet in diameter, surrounded by a mound 

 of earth and stones, evidently brought from other parts, for the 

 bottom of the bank within and without is level with the ground on 

 which it is raised. It is supposed to have been the seat of a Druidical 

 consistory. Near it are the remains of a cromlech, of a Gorseddau, 

 or heap of stones, now dispersed, and of a large circle of stones. 

 In the neighbourhood are the remains of a square intrenchment, with 

 a double rampart and moat, called Caer-leb, and some other relics of 

 ancient structures. The square intrenchmeut has evidently been a 

 Roman station. 



Egbert, king of the West Saxons, conquered the island in the 

 earlier part of the 9th century; but the princes of North Wales having 

 recovered it, Aberffraw, one of its towns, became the seat of govern- 

 iiii -lit, anil continued to be so till the final subjugation of Wales. 

 During the reign of William II., near the close o/ the llth century, 

 Anglesey wan again attacked and ravaged by the English, in retaliation 

 for some depredations committed by the Welsh borderers. It was 

 laid waste iu the following century during the civil contests of the 

 Wi-l.-ih themselves ; unsuccessfully invaded by the Irish in the time 

 of Henry III., in 1245 ; and finally subdued by Edward I. 



The climate of Anglesey is rendered by the sea breezes milder than 

 that of the adjoining part of Wales ; snow seldom lies long, even in 

 the depth of winter ; but the air is from the game cause loaded with 

 frequent rnista in autumn, at which season intermittent fevers prevail. 

 The surface of the island is comparatively flat, and the absence of 

 wood aa well as of quickset hedges gives it a barren appearance. 



DIV. VOL. I. 



The air is so unfavourable to the growth of trees, that in most parts 

 the gentry can with difficulty raise a plantation around their houses. 

 There are however considerable woods in the neighbourhood of 

 Beaumaris and at Plas Newydd, the seat of the Marquis of Anglesey, 

 on the Menai Strait. The limited extent of the island does not admit 

 of the formation of any considerable stream. Many small rivulets 

 descend from the interior. The coast forms several harbours, the 

 principal of which are Beaumaris and Holyhead. That of Amlwch 

 has been formed by excavating the rock. Anglesey was formerly a 

 place of considerable trade, and the names of ports and havens yet 

 remain, the use of which has long been given up. 



The soil of the island is various : the lands on the sea-coast, 

 especially on the western side, are sandy ; the low grounds are chiefly 

 covered with a black soil approximating to peat earth, from which 

 the peasantry dig turf for fuel, and in which they frequently find 

 large trunks of trees, hard and black as ebony, buried several feet 

 under ground. The more prevalent soil is however a stimsh loam, 

 which when manured with sand produces abundant crops. The 

 sand chiefly used as manure is that from the western side of Redwharf 

 Bay, on the east coast ; it has a large intermixture, amounting to two- 

 thirds, or from that to four-fifths, of sea-shells. Various kinds of 

 marl are found in the island, but the use of these as manures has 

 declined : lime is used abundantly. The chief agricultural productions 

 are oats and barley ; of wheat the proportion is small, and of rye still 

 smaller. Potatoes are grown in greater quantity than in any other 

 part of North Wales, and the cultivation of the turnip has increased. 

 Pasturage is however the great object of the farmer's attention. 

 Cattle form one of the staple productions of the island, and numerous 

 herds are exported. Previous to the erection of the bridge the 

 cattle had to swim over the Menai Strait. The Anglesey sheep are 

 the largest native breed in North Wales ; they have white faces and 

 legs, and are generally without horns. The coasts of Anglesey supply 

 an abundance of fish, some of which are not common elsewhere. 

 Shell-fish are abundant. 



The mineral riches of the island are great. The Mona and Parys 

 copper mines, on the north-east coast, began to be worked about 17(38, 

 but at first with little success ; they afterwards produced immense 

 wealth to the proprietors. [AMLWCH.] Lead ore, rich in silver, has 

 been found also in Parys Mountain. Limestone ranges traverse the 

 island ; marbles, both white and variegated, are procured ; mill-stones 

 are quarried at Redwharf and Penmou ; and there are coal-mines at 

 Maltraeth and Tredfaeth. The coal formation lies in a valley flanked 

 on both sides by parallel beds of carboniferous limestone. The coal- 

 measures appear irregular and uncertain, but it is thought that they 

 may extend through the whole length of the valley which reaches across 

 the island, nearly parallel to the Menai Strait, from Redwharf Bay on 

 the north, to the (estuary of Maltraeth on the south. In one pit a 

 vein 3 { feet thick was found at a depth of only 25 yards. A singular 

 phenomenon occurs in this formation : large alluvial holders of coal, 

 some of which weigh a ton or upwards, are found scattered upon the 

 surface. Granite has been observed in a small spot near the centre of 

 the island. The inhabitants do not carry on any great manufacture : 

 they buy wool at Caernarvon and Bangor fairs, and make coarse blue 

 cloths, blankets, flannels, &c., just sufficient for their own use. 



The turnpike-road to Holyhead, the usual place of embarkation for 

 Dublin, runs through the island. It crosses the Menai Strait over a 

 magnificent suspension-bridge, the under side of the roadway of which 

 is about 100 feet above high-water mark, so as to admit the passage of 

 the largest vessels which navigate the strait ; and the distance between 

 the pyramids of masonry from which the bridge is suspended is 560 

 feet, rather more than the width of the strait at low water, but con- 

 siderably less than the width when the tide is up. The Chester ana 

 Holyhead railway is carried across the strait by the Britannia Bridge, 

 a structure unrivalled in the annals of engineering enterprise. The 

 height of the road above high-water mark is the same as that of the 

 suspension-bridge, but the mass of iron to be supported is enormously 

 greater : the two tubes, which are each upwards of a quarter of a mile 

 (1513 feet) long, will weigh together 10,000 tons, being by far the 

 greatest piece of wrought-iron work ever yet constructed. These tubes 

 are supported by side piers, which are 230 feet distant from the railway 

 embankment, and a vast central pier or tower, 460 feet distant 

 from the side piers. The central tower is erected on a rock in the 

 middle of the strait, and .rises to a height of nearly 230 feet from 

 its foundations. (Latimer Clark's 'Britannia and Conway Tubular 

 Bridges.') 



The communication across the strait was formerly by ferries, of 

 which there were five or six ; that of Porthaethwy, or Bangor, now 

 superseded by the Menai Bridge, being the principal. 



The county of Anglesey is divided into three cantrefs, a division 

 which originated at a very early period ; and these cantrefs are 

 subdivided each into two comots (cwmwds). Of the period when the 

 subdivision was made there appears to be some doubt. Foj- civil 

 purposes these comots are equivalent to hundreds. Anglesey is iu 

 the diocese of Bangor and province of Canterbury ; and in the North 

 Wales circuit. 



The market-towns are AMLWCH, BEAUMARIS, HOLVHEAD, Llanerch- 

 y-Medd, and Llangefni ; Aberffraw and Newborough were formerly 

 market-towns, but the markets have fallen into disuse : of these the 



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