Oh My—I absolutely LOVE Wales! I am so glad we will get a chance to spend a few more days here when we are on our way to Scotland. Our first site of Holyhead was of the lighthouse on the end of the mile-and-a-half breakwater that took 30 years to build. The Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mon in Welsh) is a rather isolated island across the Menai Straits from the Welsh mainland. Holyhead is an even smaller island off of Anglesey. Here the sheep outnumber humans 3 times over. After the Viking invasion, Edward the First conquered the island as part of his conquest of Wales. Anglesey, the largest island in England, is connected to mainland Wales by 2 bridges spanning the Menai Strait.
The flag of Wales is one of only two in the world to have a dragon upon it. While here it would be nice to catch a glimpse of Prince William and Princess Kate as they do their shopping at the Tesco here on Holyhead on London Road. William is a rescue helicopter pilot at RAF Valley, and they live nearby in a cottage that rents for 300 pounds a week and frequent the White Eagle pub. I know far too much about them, I’m sorry to admit. I did see one of the orange rescue helicopters today, so I am telling myself that Prince William gave us a flyover. I was hoping to see some of the Welsh black cattle, black sheep, and black rams, but all I saw was white sheep and a strange cow that was white in its middle and black at tail and head.
There have been 100 or so shipwrecks in this vicinity of Holyhead. South Stack Lighthouse is on an island situated just off Holy Island. It has warned passing ships of the treacherous rocks below since its completion in 1809. The 91 ft lighthouse was designed by Daniel Alexander and the main light is visible to passing vessels for 28 miles, and was designed to allow safe passage for ships on the treacherous Dublin—Holyhead—Liverpool sea route. We were able to get a really good view of it from the cliffs above.
Until 1828 when an iron suspension bridge was built, the only means of crossing the deep water channel on to the island was in a basket which was suspended on a hemp cable. The suspension bridge was replaced in 1964, but by 1983 the bridge had to be closed to the public, due to safety reasons. A new aluminium bridge was built and the lighthouse was reopened for public visits in 1997. Today we only had time for a photo from afar. There are over 400 stone steps down to the footbridge.
We stopped for a quick photo of Porth Dafarch, one of the places mentioned in the book I read. Its waters were wild and throwing waves up onto the rocks. Then it was on to Llyn Cerrig Bach, a small lake in the north-west of the island of Anglesey. Its main claim to fame is the large hoard of Iron Age materials discovered there in 1942, apparently placed in the lake as votive offerings. These finds are considered to be one of the most important collections of La Tene metalwork discovered in the British Isles. The discovery was made when ground was being cleared for an RAF base at Valley. This involved spreading peat over the sandy ground, and the items were discovered during the extraction of peat from the Cors yr Ynys bog on the southern margin of Llyn Cerrig Bach. The first object to be found was an iron gang chain, used for slaves. This was caught up in the teeth of a harrow and was not at first identified as being ancient. It was attached to a tractor and used to pull lorries out of the mud. Although around 2,000 years old, the chain apparently performed this function without problems.
Once the chain had been identified, a search of the area produced a large number of other objects, mainly of iron but some of bronze or copper alloy. A total of 181 artefacts are known to have been recovered. They included swords, and spearheads, shields, chariots and chariot fittings and harness, another slave chain and various iron tools. There were also some plain bars of iron, which may have been used as currency. The slave chain was made with five hinged neck-rings to hold five captives.
Many of these items had been deliberately broken and are thought to have been placed in the lake as votive offerings. Some of the items appear to have been of local manufacture, a few were manufactured in Ireland, but a great many originate from southern England, suggesting that the fame of Llyn Cerrig Bach as a holy site may have spread well beyond the immediate area. However it is also possible that this was plunder captured in warfare by the local tribes. The items date from the 2nd century BC to around the period of the Roman invasion. When Roman forces under Caius Suetonius Paulinus captured the island of Anglesey in 60 or 61 AD it was said to be an important centre for the Druids. Some of the offerings may well have been made in response to the threat from the Romans. No direct Roman influence can be seen on any of the objects found.
St Cadwaladr's Church is located in the hamlet of Llangadwaladr, down a lane of yew and chestnut trees that shelter the church from storms blowing in from the IRish Sea. It is one of a number of Celtic churches built in Anglesey at the beginning of the 7th century. St Cadwaladr, to whom the church is dedicated, may well have been a prince of the royal house of Gwynedd, who died in AD 664, and from whom the Tudor dynasty claim to be descendants. Nothing survives of the church of Cadwaladr's day. Indeed the earliest church would probably have been built of wood, for St Cadwaladr's was once called Eglwys Ail – the Wattle Church. The church contains some of the best ecclesiastical architecture in the county of Anglesey with parts of the stone building being of perpendicular style and has various dates of construction including: the nave - 12th to early 13th Century; chancel - 14th Century; north chapel - 1640; south chapel - 1661; south porch - added during restorations in 1856. At one time, the ceiling of the chapel was adorned with paintings of the sun, moon, and stars and the words "Glory, Holy, Holy, Holy, Hallelujah, Amen."
There are those who believe that this church houses the tombs of the Dark Age guardians of the Grail. Shirley said that the crypt has been closed because of flooding. St. Cybi and Seiriol’s remains were moved in the 10th c. to the Llangadwaladr Church.
We were lucky in that upon our arrival at the church, we were greeted by a lovely woman named Shirley Jones who made us feel so welcome, as if the church were her own home. She said she was the warden of the church and showed us around and told us about all the stained glass and the feuding Meyrick and Owens families, I think she said, who had chapels on opposite sides of the church. She showed us the leper’s window, where the lepers from the leper house nearby could come to receive communion without touching anyone. She invited us to light candles and stay as long as we wanted. She said her husband had been killed recently and was buried just outside and she likes to come sit here in the church where it is quiet. I could certainly understand that. After our talk, she told me that if I would leave my contact information in the guest book, she would stay in touch. And then she hugged me and said how nice it was to meet me and she was gone. After she left, it had been such a magical experience to meet her, I wondered if she had really been here. She was one of the truly nicest people I have ever met. It was like we were old friends and she was waiting there for me so we could finally meet again. I will never forget her. Now if I write to the church and ask to be forwarded to Shirley Jones and they tell me there is no one there by that name, I will not be in the least surprised.
The magnificent east window in the chancel contains the only medieval glass to survive in quantity on Anglesey. The late fifteenth century stained glass window is unusual in that its depiction of the Crucifixion shows a translucent Christ painted to show the bones. Christ is accompanied by four angels holding grails and collecting the blood of Jesus, and, on the left, by the Saints Mary and John or Joseph of Arimathea who is said to have brought the Virgin Mary here. These are above a panel with the donors of the window, Meuric ap Llywelyn of Bodowen and his wife Marged. On the right, their son Owain ap Meuric and his wife Elen Meredith of Glynllifon are in a scene of battle. The window was the gift of Meuric ap Llywelyn and his wife in thanks-giving for their son Owain’s safe return from the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
The Bodowen Chapel in the south-east corner of Llangadwaladr Church, added in 1659–1661, is a combination of classical and Gothic styles. The southern façade has a projecting central gable with diagonal buttressing. The south and east windows are perpendicular, with two tiers of trefoiled lights. There is a fine monument to the founders of the chapel, the Royalist Colonel Hugh Owen and his wife Ann Williams of Llys Dulas.
"Here lyeth the body of Colonel Hugh Owen of Bodowen Esq who dyed the 21st of October 1659. Religion, learning, friends and poor have lost a noble Patron who maintain'd 'em at his cost. His contrys Patriot, most firm to Monarchy, for being Loyall suffered Infinetly.with foes would not Cologue nor his Prince betray, but lived his faithful subject to his dyeing day. THIS MONUMENT WAS MADE BY ANN OWEN HIS BELOVED WIFE, the daughter and inheritrix of Richard Williams of LLanddulas Esq in memory of her deat husband 1660" Apparently she carved it under supervision of an Italian sculptor.
But Saint Cadwaladr's is most renowned as the home to the Cadfan Stone, sometimes known as the Catamanus stone. Found close to the site the 7th Century inscribed stone, built into the north wall of the nave opposite the porch, commemorates King Cadfan of Gwynedd, Cadwaladr’s grandfather. It is the most important gravestone in Anglesey and it demonstrates that the site was the burial ground associated with the royal court at Aberffraw some mile or so to the north.
The inscription refers to one of the early kings of Gwynedd - Cadfan - who died about AD 625 - thus providing a key to dating other similar stones where a similar style is used. The lettering is a mixture of Roman capitals and half-uncials, a manuscript hand. The phraseology reflects the standards of elegance and learning at the Court of Gwynedd in the 7th Century. Translated to English it reads "King Catamus (Cadfan in Welsh) wisest and most renowned of all kings lies here." This is the first tombstone to bear the Celtic Cross and indicates that the early WElsh Princes were practicing Christians. Shirley had told us that the man in the stained glass window holding the orb is this king’s grandson, Cadwaladr. Some say he is also guarding a sarcophagus—perhaps the Virgin Mary’s.
The original north door with its Norman archway is now filled in but was much smaller in breadth and height than modern doorways. Externally the church offers fine examples of 19th century stone carving with a number of gargoyles built into the east and north walls. There is even a dragon gargoyle! Some many interesting graves here, but we had no more time.
We tried to find Llanddwyn Island, but ended up down a long road that required 3 pounds to open the gate and I had just spent my last pound at the church, buying a booklet of its history. So on we went to Caer Lêb, a prehistoric site. Its name means “ Leaven Castle." It is a low-lying site near the Afon Braint with a double row of pentangular banks (some parts now levelled) and marshy ditches. The original entrance was on the east, other gaps are modern and caused by animals. It may date from the 2nd century BCE. This was the site of one of the schools in the book I read.
Excavations in 1865 found structures within the enclosure, rectangular buildings on the east and a circular one on the south. Nothing of these can now be seen on the ground. Pottery from the 2nd century to the 4th century was found, and on the north side a layer of periwinkle shells and a mediaeval coin, under a layer of peat. A footpath goes southwest from Caer Lêb over stiles, past the site of the former stone circle of Tre'r Dryw Bach, some 800 metres to Castell Bryn Gwyn and on to the Bryn Gwyn stones.
We found Caer Idris, another prehistoric school site, “City of the Learned,” across from Hooton’s Home grown Farm Shop, just as I had found it on Google maps.
Bryn Celli Ddu is a prehistoric site and its name means 'the mound in the dark grove'. It was plundered in 1699 and excavated between 1928 and 1929. During the Neolithic period a stone circle and henge stood at the site. An area of burnt material containing a small human bone from the ear, covered with a flat stone, was recovered. The stones were removed in the early Bronze Age when an archetypal passage grave was built over the top of the centre of the henge. A carved stone with a twisting, serpentine design stood in the burial chamber. It has since been moved to the National Museum of Wales and replaced with a replica standing outside. An earth barrow covering the grave is a twentieth century restoration; the original was probably much bigger. Bryn Celli Ddu appears to have marked the summer solstice and its year round alignments allowed the site to be used as an agricultural calendar. A row of five postholes previously thought to have been contemporary with the tomb (c. 3000 BC) have recently been proven to be much earlier.
We were unsuccessful at finding the church with beautiful arches, but we were hungry by then, so we headed into Caernarfon and found a Morrison’s! After eating and surreptiously procurring some whisky—well not surreptiously procurring, that sounds like we stole it. Actually, we bought it and Ray poured it into two empty water bottles to take back onto the ship to get around the cruise line rules. I said nothing as I am pretty fed up with Princess anyway. The ship is STILL not finished after drydock and yet all the crew carry on as if nothing is wrong. Oh well, only two more days on the ship.
With 3 pounds in our pockets, we made another try at Llanddwyn Island (Ynys Llanddwyn). It seems to be a magical place. Located at the far end of a pleasant beach near Newborough Warren, this narrow finger of land is an ideal picnic site during fine weather, but also an exhilarating place when the winter winds blow as they were today. Its rolling dunes, large rock outcrops were amazing to explore. Llanddwyn is not quite an island. It remains attached to the mainland at all but the highest tides. We could see it in the distance. It provides excellent views of Snowdonia and the Lleyn Peninsula. Abermenai Point was also a site in the book and is the southernmost part of the island of Anglesey. It is the northern point of the western entrance of the Menai Strait. We couldn’t see the Church in the Sea from here, but we will try again on our return trip.
On the way back to the ship to return our rental car, we saw so many black crows, walking and flying about. They looked like black-robed Druid priests to me. All over Wales, there are high hedges along the fields, as if they are hiding something. It lends a totally mystical air to the entire area. I love it!
Tonight is our last formal night. I dread it, but Ray seems to enjoy getting all dress up—yeah, all he has to do is throw on a shirt and tie and jacket. As it turned out, though, I was ready before he was!
pictures from top: South Stack Lighthouse; interesting stained glass in St. Cadwaladr; dragon gargoyle; bus negotiating narrow pier from ship to mainland; lighthouse at Holyhead dock.
