Aberffraw
The village has a long history as a settlement from the Mesolithic Age. More recently, in medieval times, the site became the capital of the Kingdom of Gwynedd and a royal residence for the family of the House of Aberffraw.
The name of the village is often truncated to "Berffro" in the local dialect of Welsh. Local attractions include a part of the Anglesey Coastal Path, the beach and dunes at Aberffraw bay, a lake for recreational fishing, historic churches and prehistoric burial chambers.
History
Aberffraw is one of the oldest Mesolithic sites from prehistoric Wales, dating to c. 9,000 years ago. At Aberffraw Bay is the Trwyn Du (Welsh: Black nose) site. The burial was discovered whilst excavating a Bronze Age kerb cairn (bowl barrow) from 2000 BC, which was excavated because of the threat of coastal erosion. The 1977 dig revealed that the cairn was built on top of a deposit of 7,000 flint tools and two axes from 7000 BC, a few millennia after the last Ice Age.
An intact monument near Aberffraw is Din Dryfol, a Neolithic chambered tomb from 3000 BC, and around the banks of the nearby River Gwna are the remains of a stone hut circle and roundhouses, which were lived in during the Welsh Iron Age, c. 500 BC, until the British Roman period, before the 4th century.
In Welsh mythology Aberffraw features as the site of Branwen and Matholwch's wedding festival, where Efnysien maimed Matholwch's horses.
Medieval Royal House of Aberffraw
In the early Middle Ages Aberffraw was settled by Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion who built a palace in the 5th century. Rhodri the Great, the King of Gwynedd rebuilt the residence in the year 873 and had returned the capital of the Kingdom of Gwynedd to the Aberffraw cantref after Cadwallon ap Cadfan (c. 620) moved the royal court to Caernarfon in mainland Wales in the 7th century. Rhodri's palace (Welsh: Llys) became a royal court and his son Anarawd ap Rhodri started a cadet branch named the Royal House of Aberffraw. Anarawd's descendants settled the area for centuries as Kings of Gwynedd and were eventually titled the Prince of Wales. Llywelyn ab Iorwerth in 1201 re-established the palace as a residence and installed personell to work similarly to the original set up of the King's royal suite based on the rules from they're creation in 914. The court was then dismantled in 1317 to provide building materials for Caernarfon Castle across the Menai Strait.
The royal court was destroyed on Saint Nicholas Day, 6 December 1331, when a sandstorm buried 186 acres from Aberffraw north to Rhosneigr on the west of Anglesey in the Aberffraw cantref. This disaster drove families living in this area from their homes, and they migrated south to the villages of Llanddwyn and Newborough.
Aberffraw cantref (hundred)
The Meyrick (Welsh: Meurig) family of Bodorgan, Anglesey, were given the Crown lease for the manor lands of the Aberffraw cantref during the Tudor period (c. 1500). Llewelyn ap Heilyn fought at the Battle of Bosworth alongside Henry VII of England. Afterward, Llewelyn's son Meurig became captain of the bodyguard to Henry VIII and was rewarded with the lease. Today, the same family at Bodorgan Hall (near Aberffraw) is represented by the Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick baronets. After the Meyrick family ownership, it was the Owen family of Penrhos locally on Anglesey who owned the lands of Aberffraw until 1808. Subsequently the Hughes family of Baron Dinorben, the Williams and Wynn families of Baron Newborough, then the Marquess of Anglesey Paget family, and finally Lord Bulkeley (Viscount) all briefly owned the lands surrounding Aberffraw. Today, the current town was developed in the mid to late 20th century. By 1949, the village was called the poorest in Anglesey.
Aberffraw village
Attractions
Attractions near Aberffraw village include Barclodiad y Gawres, a neolithic burial chamber. Also Llyn Coron is used for fly fishing. The village has a sandy beach, which was awarded the Blue flag rural beach award in 2005. Aberffraw bay is a part of the Anglesey Coastal Path.
Churches
Near the village, on the tidal island of Cribinau, is St Cwyfan's Church. Perched on top of a rock, the "church in the sea" was constructed in the 12th century and renovated in 1893-94. The church still holds services in the summer and is sometimes used for weddings.
St Beuno's Church, Aberffraw is a double-naved church of the later medieval style. The building dates from the 12th century and is a Grade II* listed building. Additions to the church were made in the 14th and 16th centuries and a repair that involved reroofing the building in about 1840. There were extensive alterations made in 1868.