Llanfaes Friary was a Franciscanfriary in the now vanished medieval town of Llanfaes, close to what is now Beaumaris, in south east Anglesey, Wales.[1] It was founded around 1237 in memory of Joan, wife of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. The Friary survived the depopulation of the town, but was dissolved in 1538 and most of the buildings dismantled soon afterwards. The land became an estate on which, in 1623, Rowland Whyte built a house which he called Friars. It became one of the many properties of the Bulkeley family, and was substantially rebuilt in 1866. By the 20th century the house and grounds were owned by James Hartley Burton. In 1939 they were requisitioned for wartime use, adapting and repairing flying boats, by Saunders-Roe, who continued after the war with a wide variety of light engineering activities. The industrial uses finally came to an end in the late 1990s. An archaeological dig on the site in 1991 identified substantial buried remains of the friary church and other monastic buildings. The site is a Scheduled monument.[2]
The medieval settlement of Llanfaes is now represented only by St Catherine's Church, and even that is a product of 19th century rebuilding. However, it is the residual survivor of a thriving town which by the 12th century was controlling 70% of the trade of the whole of Gwynedd. By the 900s it was the main town (Maerdref) and Royal Court (Llys) of the commote of Dindaethwy which covered the southeast quarter of Anglesey. Control of the ferry crossing gave Llanfaes its wealth and prestige, and by the early 13th century it was a busy commercial town, probably centred around the Church.[3] It was into this urbanised location that the Franciscan Friary was established. However, by the end of the 13th century Edward I had defeated Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and put down the rebellion of Madog ap Llywelyn, and to press home his conquest, began a new castle and walled town at Beaumaris. The new town took control of the ferry crossing, and to ensure Llanfaes did not compete commercially with the new maerdref of Beaumaris, in 1303 the Llanfaes burgesses were forcibly resettled on the other side of Anglesey, at another new township, Newborough.[3] Apart from the Church and the Friary, little seems to have survived this determined depopulation, such that even the location of the town is now uncertain.[4]
Foundation
The first Franciscans arrived in Britain in 1224 as part of a missionary expansion of this new order of friars living a life of poverty and preaching. Unlike many earlier monasteries that had sought rural seclusion, the Franciscans needed and embraced urban locations, both to provide them with the daily charitable giving needed by a mendicant existence, and to be amongst the people they wished to teach and serve. All the earliest British foundations were small, often redundant or decayed premises, and there was an active resistance to prestige or permanence in their buildings.[5] However this very rejection of the trappings of success was greeted with enthusiasm across England and Wales and by 1240 at least 29 houses had become established.[6]
The Friary at Llanfaes was founded about 1237 AD, just as this early stress on poverty was beginning to be replaced by an acceptance of larger, well-funded premises, from donors eager to be associated with this lively new expression of Christian faith.[7] In this case it would appear that Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of Gwynedd and Wales, established the friary in memory of his wife Joan, Lady of Wales, who died in 1237 at their palace in Abergwyngregyn. The friary was consecrated in 1240, prior to Llywelyn's death, and Joan's original burial place was within a consecrated enclosure which remained within the friary precincts after it was constructed.[3]
As a result of these events, the friary became associated with female members of the royal family of Gwynedd, and in 1282 it was the burial place of Eleanor de Montfort, Princess of Wales.[8] It was also the favoured burial site of local Anglesey nobility.[3]
Decline
Some damage to the friary occurred in 1295, during the revolt of Madoc ap Llywelyn. It was further embroiled in the 1401 rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr, causing sufficient damage that the occupants were forced to vacate it for several years. It was restored in 1414 with the support of King Henry V.[4] Despite the disappearance of its town, the monastery was at least sustainable, and was still a going concern at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[3]
Dissolution
The friary was dissolved in 1538 by Henry VIII,[9] and an inventory at that time indicates that, as well as the church, vestry, accommodation and refectory buildings, a substantial agricultural holding was in place. It lists a brew-house with a furnace and brewing vat, a yard with carts, a cheese store, kitchen, hall with table and trestles and a store house, agricultural produce, grain, cattle and sheep.[3] The buildings were gradually demolished from 1539 onwards,[4] to provide building material in Beaumaris. The precinct boundary wall was still visible to John Speed in 1610, and the Friary church remained until the mid-nineteenth century, in use as a barn.[3] There are few surviving traces, other than a few medieval floor tiles. Some of these have images of oak leaves and acorns; it has been suggested that this relates to the name "Llanfaes", derived from "mes", a Welsh word for acorns.[10] The friary's lands were initially acquired by the Bulkeley family. They then passed to the Wynne (Welsh for "White") family and, in 1623, Rowland Whyte built a house there.[3]
An empty stone coffin now to be found in St Mary's and St Nicholas's Church, Beaumaris, has long been considered to be that of Joan. The panel above the coffin is inscribed: "This plain sarcophagus, (once dignified as having contained the remains of Joan, daughter of King John, and consort of Llewelyn ap Iowerth, Prince of North Wales, who died in the year 1237), having been conveyed from the Friary of Llanfaes, and alas, used for many years as a horsewatering trough, was rescued from such an indignity and placed here for preservation as well as to excite serious meditation on the transitory nature of all sublunary distinctions. By Thomas James Warren Bulkeley, Viscount Bulkeley, Oct 1808"
More recently, experts have reviewed the carved coffin lid, which does not appear to be associated with the coffin itself. It has been suggested that the style of the carved image is not in keeping the 1230s when Joan died, although the presence of a coronet suggests a member of the royal family. Eleanor de Montfort is considered by many to be the most likely alternative.[11]
Henllys and Fryars
Henllys, the ancient Llys and mansion site last rebuilt in the 1850s by the Hampton family
Near to Llanfaes was Henllys, in early medieval times the principle seat of one of the 15 tribes of North Wales. When Llanfaes was de-populated at the start of the 14th century, Henllys survived as a residence of note, and after 1460 it was granted to William Hampton, by then the Deputy Governor of Beaumaris Castle.[12] The name Henllys means the 'old llys', acknowledging its former status as a royal court, and is first recorded in 1584.[13] The Hamptons became the principle family of the locality and the family retained Henllys, expanding their land holdings such that by 1630 they held most of the former township of Llanfaes, and continued to do so until the mid-20th century. Henllys was rebuilt and expanded over the centuries, most recently in the 1850s.[3] At the outbreak of the second world war it was requisitioned for wartime use to house engineering workers at the Fryars site. After the war Henllys was owned by a Franciscan order during the 1950s, before becoming a hotel[3] and in 2003 became a part of the Holiday Property Bond.[14]
At the same time as the Hamptons were expanding their landholdings, the Bulkeleys were the principle Beaumaris family. At the dissolution of the Friary in 1539, it was the Bulkeleys who took the lease on the site, and plundered its building stone for use in Beaumaris.[3] The next leaseholder, from 1563, was Ellis Wynne (White), and his descendant, Rowland Whyte built a house in 1623, which he named Friars.[3] The Bulkeley family, with their huge mansion at nearby Baron Hill re-took possession of Friars from the Whytes and thus the two major landholders of the area, the Hamptons and Bulkeleys, divided Llanfaes between them. In 1866 Friars (which came to be spelled Fryars) was rebuilt[4] and by the start of the 20th century Fryars had been bought by James Hartley Burton,[15] originally from Birkdale, Lancashire (grandson of James Burton).[16] They had a son (John Prescott Burton), a daughter (Frances Ellen May Burton) and triplets, two boys (Alfred and Richard Burton) and a girl (Mary Conway Burton). The two sons, Alfred and Richard, were both killed in World War I and are recorded on the Beaumaris war memorial.[17] Mary Burton was elected mayor of Beaumaris in 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1956 and also High Sheriff of Anglesey.[18]
Industrial uses of the site
Northern end of the friary site, showing now derelict engineering sheds.Catalina IVB 205 Sqn RAF, on the ground at Saunders-Roe's Friars site. The background was blanked out by a wartime censor to avoid showing the site details.
In 1939 the 50 acre Fryars estate was requisitioned from the Burton family, for use in the war effort.[19] The site was allocated to Saunders-Roe, who used it for modifying American and Canadian built Catalinaflying boats. Over four years 399 Catalinas received a wide range of adaptations to fit in with RAF needs, including .303 British version Browning machine guns, British type bomb-racks and RAF radio equipment. They also installed highly secret Air-to-Surface Vessel radar (ASV) and from 1942, Leigh lights.[20] German U-boats had to spend time on the surface at night, while they re-charged their batteries. The combination of radar and the high powered searchlights enabled the planes to find and attack a U-boat before it could dive.[21]
The Fryars Slipway on the foreshore of Fryars Bay
At Llanfaes, a long slipway was built across the road and across the foreshore to Fryars Bay. The flying boats were able to utilise the large area of deep water along the east end of the Menai Straits.[21] The Catalinas were manufactured in USA and Canada, and were initially sent over on cargo ships, but from November 1942 they were able to be flown over direct from either Bermuda or CFB Goose Bay, Canada.[22] One of the survivals from this time is a large concrete turning circle, just south of Fryars House, used when setting aircraft compasses.[3] After the war the factory diversified into a wide range of engineering tasks. Some aircraft activity continued, such as trialing floats for Auster light aircraft,[19] and a pioneering use of aluminium in the manufacture of motor torpedo boats P1602, Dark-class fast patrol boats,[23]Bras d'Or (R-103) Hydrofoils[24] and Airborne lifeboats.[25] They also produced a wide variety of civilian and military land based craft, such as the coachwork for buses. 620 of these buses were exported to Cuba in the 1950s.[26] At its height over 2,000 people worked at the site.[26] Fryars House became the offices. In the war, workers were housed in nearby Henllys Hall, Plas Rhianfa (now Chateau Rhianfa Hotel[21] and in prefabricated housing. This was gradually replaced by permanent houses such that a new village of Llanfaes has grown up north of the factory site.[3]
Saunders Roe Friars Site in 2013
In 1968 the Llanfaes SARO site, along with an engineering works in Llangefni were merged as part of the Cammell Laird shipbuilding firm, to become Laird (Anglesey). By the 1990s this had become owned by Faun Group, who in 1997 opened a new works in Llangefni and the decaying wartime hangars and buildings finally fell into disuse.[26] Aluminium construction still remains the core activity of the firm at Llangefni,[27] but the Llanfaes site is no longer in use.
Archaeological investigation
A proposal to construct sewage treatment works within the area of the scheduled monument required a thorough archaeological investigation, which was carried out by Gwynedd Archaeological Trust in the summer of 1991, to establish the nature and extent of any buried features. The sewage works were subsequently built in the southern corner of the site. The 1991 excavations opened a series of trenches in some of the more accessible parts of what had become an area of dense tree cover. The main existing structure in the area is the large concrete turning circle from the 1940s flying boat activities. The Friary Church itself stood some 20 metres north of the circle, and did not form part of the study area. Two trenches close to the circle proved particularly rich in finds relating to the friary graveyard and boundary wall. The largest of these, Trench E, on the down-slope (east) side of the circle, revealed seven phases of activity.[28]
Graves from an early period of the friary's history. These were cut alongside a boundary wall and drain of broadly the same date.
Graves on a slightly different alignment were dug at a later period.
A second wall, with further graves, were cut through the earlier graves, which by then must have been unmarked and forgotten.
Two grave holes with no contents. This suggests these were disinterred and relocated when the friary was dissolved in 1538. (Earlier burials were left in situ.)
A cobbled surface. This was probably laid during construction of the 1623 'Friars House'
An accumulation of 0.25 metres (9.8in) of clay soil, had occurred, whilst a trackway running north-south remained as a depression feature.
The sunken track was filled in, the site levelled up with clay and gravel, and finally tarmacked, all during the 20th century.
Other trenches had much less archaeology. The west (up-slope) side of the circle had been cut down to the natural to give a level area for the circle, so that archaeology there had been lost. The trenches south of the circle revealed nothing of interest apart from the trackway/road, and so that area was deemed permissible for the sewage treatment works to be built.[29]
Beaumaris Castle, in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, was built as part of Edward I's campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct the castle in 1284, but this was delayed due to lack of funds and work only began in 1295 following the Madog ap Llywelyn uprising. A substantial workforce was employed in the initial years under the direction of James of St George. Edward's invasion of Scotland soon diverted funding from the project, however, and work stopped, only recommencing after an invasion scare in 1306. When work finally ceased around 1330 a total of £15,000 had been spent, a huge sum for the period, but the castle remained incomplete.
Eleanor de Montfort, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon was an English noblewoman and Welsh princess through her marriage to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, who was Prince of Gwynedd, and later, Prince of Wales. She was the daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Eleanor of England. She was also the second woman who can be shown to have used the title Princess of Wales.
The Kingdom of Gwynedd was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.
Beaumaris is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from the coast of North Wales. At the 2021 census, its population was 1,121. The community includes Llanfaes.
Aberffraw is a village and community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. The village is 9 miles from the island's county town, Llangefni, and is on the west bank of the Afon Ffraw. The community includes Soar and Dothan. It is on the A4080 and the nearest rail station is Bodorgan.
Joan, Lady of Wales and Lady of Snowdon, also known by her Welsh name often written as Siwan was an illegitimate daughter of King John of England, and the wife of Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Wales, effective ruler of all of Wales. Joan or Siwan in Welsh has been referred to as both "Lady of Wales" and "Princess of Wales".
Penmon is a promontory, village and ecclesiastical parish on the eastern tip of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the town of Beaumaris. It is in the community of Llangoed. The name comes from Welsh: pen and Môn, which is the Welsh word for Anglesey. It is the site of a historic monastery and associated 12th-century church. Walls near the well next to the church may be part of the oldest remaining Christian building in Wales. Penmon also has an award-winning beach and the Anglesey Coastal Path follows its shores. Quarries in Penmon have provided stone for many important buildings and structures, including Birmingham Town Hall and the two bridges that cross the Menai Strait. The area is popular with locals and visitors alike for its monuments, tranquillity, bracing air and fine views of Snowdonia to the south across the Menai Strait.
The Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site located in Gwynedd, Wales. It includes the castles of Beaumaris and Harlech and the castles and town walls of Caernarfon and Conwy. UNESCO considers the sites to be the "finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe".
Baron Hill is a country estate in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales. The ruined Baron Hill House and the associated Baron Hill Park were established in 1618 by Sir Richard Bulkeley as the family seat of the influential Bulkeley family. Parts of the park are a site of special scientific interest.
Llanfaes is a small village on the island of Anglesey, Wales, located on the shore of the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from the north Wales coast. Its natural harbour made it an important medieval port and it was briefly the capital of the kingdom of Gwynedd. Following Prince Madoc's Rebellion, Edward I removed the Welsh population from the town and rebuilt the port a mile to the south at Beaumaris. It is in the community of Beaumaris.
Anglesey is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island and some islets and skerries. The county borders Gwynedd across the Menai Strait to the southeast, and is otherwise surrounded by the Irish Sea. Holyhead is the largest town, and the administrative centre is Llangefni. The county is part of the preserved county of Gwynedd. Anglesey is the northernmost county in Wales.
St Iestyn's Church, Llaniestyn is a medieval church in Llaniestyn, Anglesey, in Wales. A church is said to have been founded here by St Iestyn in the 7th century, with the earliest parts of the present building dating from the 12th century. The church was extended in the 14th century, with further changes over the coming years. It contains a 12th-century font and a 14th-century memorial stone to Iestyn, from the same workshop as the stone to St Pabo at St Pabo's Church, Llanbabo.
St Twrog's Church is a small rural church at Bodwrog in Anglesey, North Wales. Built in the late 15th century in a medieval style, some alterations have been made but much of the original structure still remains. It has two 15th-century doorways and some 15th-century windows. The bull's head decoration used on the church denotes a connection with the Bulkeleys of Beaumaris, a prominent north Wales family over several centuries. Set in a remote part of the countryside in the middle of Anglesey, it is dedicated to St Twrog, who was active in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. The church's tithes were paid for at least two hundred years to Jesus College, Oxford, which has historically strong links with Wales, and the college at one point built a house for the priest who served St Twrog's and a neighbouring parish.
Goronwy ap Tudur Hen, also known as Goronwy ap Tudur or Goronwy Fychan, was a Welsh aristocrat and Lord of Penmynydd. He was a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd, Anglesey, North Wales, and a direct ancestor of Owen Tudor and thereby the Royal House of Tudor. He was a soldier for the English crown, who fought in the First War of Scottish Independence, including in the English invasion which led to the Battle of Bannockburn. He remained loyal to King Edward II of England until the king's death, and was both a yeoman and forester of Snowdon. After his death in 1331, his body was interred in Llanfaes Friary, near Bangor, Gwynedd.
Tudur Hen or Tudur ap Goronwy was a Welsh aristocrat and original founder of the House of Tudor. He was one of three sons of Goronwy ab Ednyfed who received lands from King Edward I of England. Nonetheless, he backed the rebellion of Madog ap Llywelyn, but afterwards swore allegiance to both Edward I and his son, Edward of Caernarfon. Tudur Hen was responsible for the restoration of the Franciscan friary at Bangor, where his body was later placed on 11 October 1311.
St Mary and St Nicholas Church, Beaumaris, an Anglican church, is a fourteenth century Grade I listed building in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales.
The Menai Strait fish weirs are historically important fishing traps used in the fast-flowing tidal waters of the Menai Strait, which separates Anglesey from the rest of North Wales. The strait was particularly well suited to utilising fish weirs. The tidal waters pull huge volumes of water past the coastline with every tide, and the weirs and traps enabled fish to be concentrated into small holding areas from which they can be readily caught. Such methods are thought to have been used from earliest times, but the submerged and standing remains along both the Anglesey and Gwynedd coasts are from medieval and post-medieval periods, and in some cases were still in use into the 20th century.
Hafotty, Llansadwrn, Anglesey, Wales is a medieval hall house dating from the mid 14th century. Described in the Gwynedd Pevsner as "one of Anglesey's classic small medieval houses", Hafotty is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.
The Bulkeley Hotel stands on the seafront in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales. It was designed by the architectural partnership of Joseph Hansom and Edward Welch for the Beaumaris Corporation. The development was a central part of the corporation's plans to reposition Beaumaris as a fashionable seaside resort in response to its declining maritime trade. It is designated a Grade I listed building, and remains in operation.
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