Holyhead
 Roman Britain |
The town of Holyhead is located on Holy Island, and is reached from Anglesey by a causeway known as the Stanley Embankment, built in 1822 by Thomas Telford. Holyhead, the third largest passenger port in Britain, has long been the main port for the sea route to Dublin, and has a long-standing association with Ireland in general. As early as 2000 BC, Holyhead was busy with boats trading axes from Ireland, and some 500 years later there is evidence that Irish gold was brought into the town.
The 6ft thick walls of Caer Gybi, a Roman fort dating from the 3rd or 4th century, enclose the parish Church of St Cybi. This cruciform church is perhaps the most striking building in Holyhead, parts of which date from the 13th century. It is built on the site of the original 6th century chapel, situated within the partially surviving walls of the Roman fort. Nearby, is a tomb thought to contain the remains of an Irish warrior called Seregri, defeated in battle by a Welsh chieftain.
At the entrance to the harbour is Salt Island, where salt was extracted from the sea during the 18th century. Near by is the Customs House of 1830. The harbour is protected by a 1.5 mile long, Z-shaped breakwater, the longest in Britain. The automated lighthouse retains its original brass clockwork machinery of 1837.
The highest point on Anglesey is Holyhead Mountain at 720ft, which permits of views of Snowdonia, the Isle of Man and the Mountains of Mourne in Ireland, on clear days. On the south-west slope of the mountain, archaeologists have discovered evidence of early occupation at two sites. At Caer-y Twr, the remains of an ancient hill-fort have been unearthed, and at Cytiau'r Gwyddelod, the foundations of a former hut settlement, occupied in the 2nd century AD, have been revealed. North and west, the mountain drops down to the sea in sheer cliffs. At the foot of Holyhead Mountain is South Stack Island, joined to the mainland by an iron bridge. Clinging dramatically to its barren surface is a lighthouse, built in 1808 by Daniel Alexander, designer of the famous Dartmoor Prison in Devon. South Stack is approached down a dangerously steep cliff, where 400 perilous steps have been cut into the rock - this vantage point is very impressive, but not for the faint hearted. To the north of the mountain is North Stack, where great caverns have been worn into the rock face through erosion. One of these caverns has an arch 70ft high, called the Parliament House Cave, because of the continuous chattering of occupying birdlife.