The Isle of Anglesey (pronounced /ˈænɡəlsi/ ; Welsh: Ynys Môn , ) is an island and county off the northwest coast of Wales, with a predominantly Welsh-speaking population. 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 more recently constructed Britannia Bridge (originally designed by Robert Stephenson); which carries the A55 and the North Wales Coast Railway Line.
Historian and author John Davies argues that it was during the tumultuous 10th century that the Norse name for Môn, Anglesey , came into existence; the name was later adopted into English after Anglo-Norman occupiers arrived to conquer the island during the Norman invasions of Gwynedd.
The name Anglesey was later used in the English language as a county name which included Holy Island and other nearby small islands. Once the Welsh language was granted equal status in government with the Welsh Language Act, the representative constituency names for the island were changed to the Welsh name of the island, Ynys Môn (UK Parliament constituency) in the UK parliament, and Ynys Môn (Assembly constituency) in the National Assembly for Wales.
With an area of 720 square kilometres (278 sq mi), Anglesey is the largest Welsh island, and the fifth largest surrounding the island of Great Britain.
Name
Môn is the Welsh name of Anglesey, derived from the British enisis mona , appearing first during the Roman era as 'Mona': 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. Old Welsh names are Ynys Dywyll ("Dark Isle") and Ynys y Cedairn ( cedyrn or kedyrn ; "Isle of brave folk"). Clas Merddin , and Y fêl Ynys (honey isle) are other names. The English name Anglesey is in fact derived from the Old Norse, meaning 'Ongull's Island'. The alternative "isle ( ey ) of the Angles" is discredited.
History
There are numerous megalithic monuments and menhirs present on Anglesey, testifying to the presence of humans in prehistory. Plas Newydd is one of 28 cromlechs that remain on uplands overlooking the sea. The Welsh Triads claim that Anglesey was once part of the mainland.
Historically, Anglesey has long been associated with druids. In AD 60 the Roman general Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, determined to break the power of the Celtic druids, attacked the island, destroying the shrine and the sacred groves. News of Boudica'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, the Roman Governor of Britain, in AD 78. The foundations of Caer Gybi, a fort at Holyhead, are Roman, and the present road from Holyhead to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll may originally have been a Roman road.
British Iron Age and Roman sites have been excavated, and coins and ornaments discovered, especially by the 19th century antiquarian, Lord Stanley of Penrhos. Following the Roman departure from Britain in the early 5th century, pirates from Ireland colonised Anglesey and the nearby Llŷn Peninsula. In response to this, Cunedda ap Edern, a Gododdin warlord from Scotland, came to the area and began the process of driving the Irish out. This process was continued by his son Einion Yrth ap Cunedda and grandson Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion, the last Irish invaders finally being defeated in battle in 470. As an island, Anglesey was in a good defensive position and, because of this, Aberffraw became the site of the court, or Llys , of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Apart from a devastating Danish raid in 853 it was to remain the capital until the 13th century, when improvements to the English navy made the location indefensible.
After the Irish, the island was invaded by Vikings, Saxons, and Normans before falling to Edward I of England in the 13th century.
Geography
Anglesey is a relatively low-lying island with low hills such as Parys Mountain, Cadair Mynachdy ("chair of the monastery", or Monachdy; there is a Nanner, "convent", not far away), Mynydd Bodafon and Holyhead Mountain. The island is separated from the Welsh mainland by the Menai Strait, which at its narrowest point is about 250 metres (270 yd) wide.
Anglesey has several small towns scattered around the island, making it quite evenly populated. Beaumaris (Welsh: Biwmares ), in the east of the island, features Beaumaris Castle, built by Edward I as part of his campaign in North Wales. Beaumaris acts as a yachting centre for the region, with many boats moored in the bay or off Gallows Point. The village of Newborough (Welsh: Niwbwrch ), in the south, created when the townsfolk 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, which features one of the oldest courtrooms in the United Kingdom. Llangefni is located in the centre of the island and is also the island's administrative centre. The town of Menai Bridge (Welsh: Porthaethwy ) (in the south-east) 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. Also nearby is the village with the longest official place name in the United Kingdom, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Near it is Plas Newydd, ancestral home of the Marquesses of Anglesey. 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.
Other villages 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 breed commercially 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 200-kilometre (124 mi) 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 (Caergybi), 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 all but closed down in September 2009, reducing its workforce from 450 to 80; this has been a major blow to the Island's economy, especially to the town of Holyhead. However, the local county council supports extending the closure deadline and building a new nuclear power station at Wylfa. The Royal Air Force base RAF Valley (Y Fali) is home to the RAF Fast Jet Training School and also 22 Sqn Search and Rescue Helicopters which provide employment for approx 500 civilians. RAF Valley is now home to the Headquarters of 22 Sqn Search and Rescue.
There is a wide range of smaller industries, mostly located in industrial and business parks especially at Llangefni and Gaerwen. These industries include an abattoir 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 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 natural lakes, mostly in the west, such as Llyn Llywenan, the largest
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