Llangaffo | |
---|---|
Location within Anglesey | |
Population | 357 |
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | GAERWEN |
Postcode district | LL60 |
Police | North Wales |
Fire | North Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Llangaffo is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales. It lies along the B4419 and B4421 roads, north of Dwyran, south of Gaerwen and northwest of Llanidan. It is named after Caffo, a 6th-century saint. A church, St Caffo's Church, is named after him. A war memorial, a village hall and a former primary school are also located in the village. The 1851 census recorded 138 people in the village, 75 males, 63 females and a parish area of 1,590 acres (640 ha). [1] It is in the community of Rhosyr. The 2011 census recorded a population of 357. [2] Since 2023, Llangaffo reverted its ghost town status.
Llangaffo is a parish in the hundred of Menai, county Anglesey. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Caernarfon and 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Llangefni. It is in the vicinity of the North Wales Coast Line, although the nearest station (Gaerwen railway station) closed in 1966.
The village is situated on a vantage hill ridge that provides vistas of pastureland and the hills of Snowdonia and the Menai Strait. [3] The Snowdonian mountains terminate in the west with the abrupt precipices of Yr Eifl. It covers an extensive tract of land, of which a large portion is marshy, some part hilly, and the remainder in a fair state of cultivation. In 1790, an act of parliament was obtained for more effectually embanking the marshes called Malltraeth and Corsddeuga, under the provisions of which 230 acres (93 ha) were allotted to the several proprietors of land in this parish. The soil is in general fertile, and the lower grounds afford excellent pasturage for cattle. The surrounding scenery is varied, while the higher grounds afford vistas over the adjacent countryside. Mats are manufactured from the seaweed extracted from the marshy area. [1]
St Caffo's Church was constructed in 1846 to replace the previous medieval church on the site. The new building includes a number of monuments from the old church, and has a spire which is a prominent local landmark. The churchyard has part of a stone cross dating from the 9th or 10th century, and some gravestones from the 9th to 11th centuries. It is dedicated to St Caffo, a 6th-century martyr who was killed in the vicinity. The church is still in use as part of the Church in Wales, one of four churches in a combined parish. It is a Grade II listed building, a designation given to "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them", [4] in particular because it is regarded as "a mid 19th-century rural church, consistently articulated and detailed in an Early English style". [5] [6]
The lintel of the church's northern doorway consists of a tomb-stone 6 feet (1.8 m) long, bearing a poorly-incised cross, plain and with the arms gradually widened. In the churchyard, there is a mutilated cross on a crude pedestal, now used as a sundial, on the front of which is sculptured a cross with equal limbs, each dilated at the extremity, inscribed within a circle, beneath which are two incised trefoils. The edge of the stone is ornamented with the classical fret seen on the Penmon Priory stones and cross. The carving is defaced and difficult to make out. [7] A wheel head, an early Christian monument, has also been found at the church. The lower half of the wheel is triple-beaded and of Celtic-style, the head contains arm ends in square or hammer shaped style, while the detailing on the cross arms includes raised mouldings. [8]
Gravestones with carvings of cross are seen in the churchyard and one of them is of 7th-century vintage. [3]
A war memorial in the churchyard commemorates the names of Llangaffo residents who were killed or missing in World War I and World War II. [9]
In the parish, and to the east of Llangaffo village lies the site of the Bodowyr Burial Chamber, a Neolithic burial chamber made of a few large stacked stones.
The primary school Ysgol Llangaffo ("Llangaffo School"), opened in 1854, [10] was located along the main road in the heart of the village before its closure in 2019, having merged with 3 other schools on the Isle of Anglesey to form a 'super-school' in Ysgol Santes Dwynwen in Newborough. Ysgol Bodorgan, Ysgol Dwyran, and Ysgol Niwbwrch were the other three schools which were closed as part of this merger. [11] The school subsequently went on public sale in 2021 for redevelopment or conversion subject to statutory consents.
Two gold coins of the Emperor Constantine, in a good state of preservation, were found near the church, in the year 1829, and several silver and copper coins of that and other emperors have been found in the parish. [1] Small concentrations of stone have been found around Llangaffo, possibly indicating stone cutter activity that under monastic direction. [8]
The village of Llangaffo is referenced in an 1841 published biography by William Jones titled Character of the Welsh as a Nation. [15]
Newborough is a village in the southern corner of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. It is a part of the Bro Aberffraw electoral ward; to the northwest is Aberffraw, and to the northeast is Llanfairpwll. There is a church in the village, a primary school, and a public institute. Nearby is the Newborough Warren, a forest, beach, and public nature reserve.
Menai Bridge is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, just over the water from Bangor. It has a population of 3,376.
Bodedern is a village and community in the west of Anglesey, Wales. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,074, decreasing slightly to 1,051 at the 2011 census. The community includes the settlements of Llanllibio and Pen-llyn.
Gwalchmai is a village on Anglesey in north Wales, within the Trewalchmai community.
Rhosyr is a community in the far southern corner of Anglesey, Wales. It includes the villages of Dwyran and Newborough, Llangeinwen and Llangaffo.
Gaerwen is a village on the island of Anglesey in the community of Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog. It is located in the south of the island 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Llangefni. The A5 runs through the village, and the A55 runs just a few hundred metres north. According to the 2011 Census Gaerwen is now listed by the Office for National Statistics as Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog. The population of the community is 1,551. Gaerwen and Pentre Berw, Llangaffo are trio villages.
Llanddeusant is a small linear village, on Anglesey, North Wales about 10 miles (16 km) north east of Holyhead.
The A4080 is a British A road which is located on the Island of Anglesey, Wales. It follows a very roundabout route from the A5 road at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll via Newborough and Rhosneigr back to the A55 and the A5 about 9 miles (14 km) south of Holyhead. In all the road is about 17 miles (27 km) long.
Llanidan is a community in the south of Anglesey, Wales which includes the village of Brynsiencyn. The parish is along the Menai Strait, about 4 miles north-east of Caernarfon. The parish church of St Nidan is near the A4080 road, a little to the east of Brynsiencyn. The ruins of an earlier parish church survive.
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 Cristiolus's Church, Llangristiolus is a medieval church near the village of Llangristiolus, in Anglesey, north Wales. The village, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the building, takes its name from the church. Reputedly founded by St Cristiolus in 610, the present building dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. Alterations were made in the 16th century, when the large east window in Perpendicular style was added to the chancel – a window which has been described by one guide to the buildings of north Wales as "almost too big to fit" in the wall. Some restoration work took place in the mid-19th century, when further windows were added and the chancel largely rebuilt.
St Ffinan's Church, Llanffinan is a small 19th-century parish church built in the Romanesque revival style, in Anglesey, north Wales. There has been a church in this area, even if not on this precise location, since at least 1254, and 19th-century writers state that St Ffinan established the first church here in the 7th century. The church was rebuilt in 1841, reusing a 12th-century font and 18th-century memorials, as well as the cross at the eastern end of the roof.
St Caffo's Church, Llangaffo is a 19th-century church, in the south of Anglesey, north Wales, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the county town, Llangefni. It was constructed in 1846 to replace the previous medieval church in the village of Llangaffo. The new building includes a number of monuments from the old church, and has a spire which is a prominent local landmark. The churchyard has part of a stone cross dating from the 9th or 10th century, and some gravestones from the 9th to 11th centuries. It is dedicated to St Caffo, a 6th-century martyr who was killed in the vicinity.
Malltraeth Marsh is a large marsh area in Anglesey, North Wales, north-east of Malltraeth village, along the flatlands of Trefdraeth, Bodorgan, Llangristiolus and south of Cefn Cwmwd, Rhostrehwfa. It was reclaimed from estuarine marshes after the construction of the Malltraeth Cob (dyke), a 1 mile (1.6 km) long embankment, and the subsequent canalisation in 1824 of the Afon Cefni.
Dwyran is a village on the island of Anglesey, in north-west Wales, in the community of Rhosyr. Population 2011 census was 603. The first prototype Land Rover off-road vehicle was built and tested around Dwyran and Newborough, Anglesey in 1947. Maurice Wilks designer of the Land Rover is buried just outside Dwyran village.
St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yn-y-Cwmwd is a small medieval parish church near the village of Dwyran, in Anglesey, north Wales. The building probably dates from the 15th century, with some alterations. It contains a 12th-century carved stone font and a 13th-century decorated coffin lid. The bell is inscribed with the year of its casting, 1582. The historian Henry Rowlands was vicar of St Mary's in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Maurice Wilks, who invented the Land Rover, is buried in the churchyard.
St Michael's Church, Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog, is a former parish church in Anglesey, Wales, which is now closed and in ruins. The structure dates from the 15th century and a chapel was added to the north side in the 17th century. A replacement church was built elsewhere in the parish in 1847, and the old church was closed, partly demolished and abandoned. Some restoration work has taken place in the 21st century and some occasional services have been held.
Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog is a community and former ecclesiastical parish in Anglesey, Wales, east of Llangefni.
St Canna Church is a church in Llangan, in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. Its churchyard cross is a Grade I listed building, listed on 22 July 2003.