WALES. 63 



place along this part of the coast of Wales during historical times. At present the 

 width of the strait is nowhere less than 560 feet, whilst its least depth is 16 feet. 

 Its northern entrance is accessible to vessels at all stages of the tide, whilst the 

 southern entrance is closed by a bar having only 6 feet of water above it. Two 

 famous bridges span this strait, and join. Anglesey to the mainland. Their 

 height is so considerable that sailing vessels of average size can pass beneath them. 

 By far the more elegant of these structures is the Suspension Bridge, designed 



Fig. 26. — The Bkitannia Tubular Bkidge, ^Ienai Strait. 



by Telford, and opened for traffic in 1826. The height of its roadway above high 

 water is 100 feet, and the central opening, between the two suspending piers, is 

 553 feet wide. The other bridge was erected by Robert Stephenson, and is 

 known as the Britannia Tubular Bridge, from the rock on which the middle tower 

 is erected, the rock itself having been named after the Brifannm, which was 

 wrecked upon it. The bridge has a total length of 1,833 feet, and is divided into 

 four spans, the two centre ones being each 460 feet wide. This bridge was built 

 for the railway from London to Holyhead, which runs across it. It is remarkable 

 as an engineering work, but it has been surpassed, since its construction, not only 

 in Holland and the United States, but also in the British Isles. 



Anglesey, the ancient Mona, was formerly the heart of Celtic Britain. 

 Here the most revered of the Druids had their- seat, and from this remote 

 locality, surrounded on all sides by water, they exercised that sort of power 



