Llanfaes, Anglesey

Historical Description

Llanfaes or Llanvaes, a parish in Anglesey on Beaumaris Bay, and partly within Beaumaris borough, 1 mile N of Beaumaris, and 6 NE of Menai Bridge station on the L. & N.W.R. Post town, Beaumaris (R.S.O.) Acreage, 1638; population of the civil parish, 229; of the ecclesiastical, 494. BARON HILL is the seat of the Bulkeley family. The Friars, another seat of the family, took its name from a Franciscan priory, founded in 1237 by Llewelyn the Great to the memory of his wife Joan. The priory was refounded by Edward III., suffered great damage in the wars of Owen Glendower, and was given at the dissolution to the Whytes. Four monuments anciently in it were carried off to Beaumaris, Llanbeblig, Llandegai, and Penmynydd, and a stone coffin, said to have been that of the Princess Joan, was used for upwards of 200 years as a horse trough, and was removed to Baron Hill in 1808. Henllys, situated on wooded banks above the church, is the seat of the Hampton family, and has an ancient bedstead which belonged to Owen Tudor. A sanguinary battle was fought within Llanfaes parish between the Welsh and the Saxons under Egbert, and it probably gave rise to the name Llanfaes as a corruption of Llanmaes, which may be taken to signify "the meeting-place of the battlefield." The coast is suffering some abrasion by the sea, and skulls and bones are occasionally washed out from a portion of it and are supposed to be relics of the battle. The living is a perpetual curacy, united with Penmon, in the diocese of Bangor; gross value, £195 with residence. The church was rebuilt in 1845, is in the Decorated English style, has a broach spire, and contains armorial bearings of the Whytes.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

For births, marriages, and deaths in Llanfaes from 1837 to 1937 you should search for the Bangor Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Llanfaes from 1937 to 1968 you should search for the Anglesey East Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Llanfaes from 1968 to 1974 you should search for the Anglesey Registration District.

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Anglesey is online.

Maps

Online maps of Llanfaes are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers online:

• Western Mail
• The North Wales Chronicle