Penmon

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.

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.

Although Seiriol eventually removed himself to a hermitage on nearby Puffin Island, the monastery prospered and two crosses were set up at its gate.

[5] During the 12th century, the abbey church was rebuilt under Gruffudd ap Cynan and Owain Gwynedd.

In the 13th century, under Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, monasteries started a newer more regular kind of rule, and Penmon became an Augustinian priory with conventional buildings.

The buildings were transferred to the ownership of the Bulkeleys of Beaumaris, a prominent local family, and are still in use today.

[4] The average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the Met Office weather station in Colwyn Bay, around 10 miles east of Penmon (and also by the sea) are set out in the table below.

[6] The author of A History of Anglesey, written in 1775, said of Penmon that there were "plenty of oysters, remarkable large, the poor find constant employ in the dredge, and in pickling the fish for foreign consumption.

[8] The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-2 noted that millstone, good limestone and marble were found in the area.

[19] St Seiriol's Church, which was the centrepiece of the monastery, is now part of the Rectorial benefice of Beaumaris, within the Diocese of Bangor.

[22] This was to repair the leadwork, the rainwater goods, repointing and limewashing of the tower roof and the superstructure of the building.

[23] Another building in Penmon, the Priory House (which is set around the cloister court of the church), received £21,600.

[26] The two medieval crosses that once stood in front of the monastery (from the 10th century) are still in existence today, but are now inside the church.

[3] It has been said that the lower stone walls near the well were part of Seiriol's church in the 6th century; if so, this would make it the oldest remaining Christian building in Wales.

[3] In 1748, Lewis Morris made a hydrographic survey of the coast of Wales and suggested that the tower of the ruined church on the island be converted into a lighthouse.

On 17 August 1831, The Rothesay Castle, a wooden-hulled paddle steamer on a day trip from Liverpool, sank in very heavy seas.

[42] Afterwards, the Trwyn Du Lighthouse and a lifeboat station were built to try to prevent similar tragedies.

[43] To be awarded the yellow and blue flag, beaches have to meet mandatory standard water quality and must be clean, safe and well-managed.

[50] The region was used, at the choice of a London-based production company, to represent an Eastern Europe country.

[51] Jolie had filmed in North Wales in 2002 for Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and had apparently been "enchanted" by the scenery.

[52] Penmon Priory has also been used for the BBC programme Songs of Praise, featuring Aled Jones (who comes from Llandegfan, a village about seven miles from Penmon) and also for filming the 1960s television show Danger Man, starring Patrick McGoohan.

The opening episode of the series showed celebrities such as Mo Farah, Jordan North and Shane Ritchie abseiling down the cliff face.

St Seiriol's Church
The smaller of the 10th century crosses, with one arm cut off
The dovecot
The interior of Penmon Priory Dovecot showing its central pillar
Tunnel under the cliff at Penmon. The beds are angled due to folding, which has caused the rock to tilt.