Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ISLE OF ANGLESEY (YNYS MÔN)
At 276 sq miles, the Isle of Anglesey is Wales' largest island and bigger than any in Eng-
land. It's a popular destination for visitors with miles of inspiring coastline, hidden
beaches, chocolate-box villages and Wales' greatest concentration of ancient sites. A brush
with royalty has given Anglesey an added caché in recent years, with the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge setting up home here while Prince William serves at the Royal Air
Force base in Valley.
From prehistoric times, Anglesey's fertile land was settled by small communities of
farmers. The island was holy to the Celts and, in AD 60, it was the last part of Wales to fall
to the Romans. Given its outpost status and singular character, Anglesey stakes a fair claim
to being the Welsh heartland. Gerald of Wales quoted the ancient name for the island in de-
claring it 'Môn mam Cymru' (Mother of Wales) at the end of the 12th century.
Almost all of the Anglesey coast has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty. The little town of Beaumaris makes an attractive base due to its excellent accom-
modation and eateries, but there are hidden gems scattered all over the island.
THE DRUIDS
The magical mystique that the ancient druids enjoy today is assisted by a lack of evidence - they wrote down noth-
ing about their beliefs. It is known that they had charge of Celtic religion and ritual, and were educators and healers
as well as political advisors, and so were vastly influential. However, the main sources of information about this
spiritual aristocracy are Roman scholars, whose accounts are seen through an adversarial glass. The Romans are
coloured as a civilising force, and the Celts and druids as bloodthirsty and keen on human sacrifice.
Resistance to the Romans was powered by druidic influence in Britain. Anglesey was a major seat of druidic
learning because of its strategic placement between Wales, Ireland and France. According to the Roman historian
Tacitus, when the Romans attacked Anglesey in AD 60, they were terrified by the resident wild women and holy
fanatics who greeted them with howls and prayers, and found the altars there covered in the blood of prisoners. The
conquerors set about destroying the druids' shrines and sacred groves, and did all they could to impress their cul-
ture on the locals, but the result was inevitably a mix of new and old beliefs.
Druidism became a fashionable interest in the 18th century, and the Welsh poetic tradition is believed to stem
from the druids. In 1820 Edward Williams created druidic ceremonies to be performed during the annual Eistedd-
fod, which accounts for many of the long beards and solemn ceremonies still in evidence at this festival of poetry
and literature today.
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