Anglesey

views updated May 14 2018

Anglesey. Island county of north-west Wales, separated from the mainland by the Menai Straits. In 1974 it became the district of Ynys Môn in the county of Gwynedd, but was reconstituted as a county in 1996. Its location, together with the protective barrier of the Snowdonian mountains, made it a traditional centre of resistance to invaders, Roman and Norman. But after conquest by Edward I it was created a county of the principality of Wales in 1284, a status confirmed at the Act of Union of 1536.

Anglesey is a low plateau with hills rising no more than 500 feet. It was known as ‘Môn mam Cymru’ (Môn, mother of Wales) because of its productive cereal-growing, but present farming is primarily dairy. Economic development is also related to the major road/rail crossings of the island to the port of Holyhead, the major British link to Ireland. Two bridges cross the Menai Straits; Telford's Menai suspension bridge (1819–20) and Stephenson's Britannia tubular bridge (1846–50), originally rail but now both rail and road. Copper was mined on Anglesey but recent economic activity is related to a nuclear power station at Wylfa Head and an aluminium smelter. Tourism is also a significant employer, mainly along the coastline.

The population of the county was 69,149 in 1991. The island has been one of the cores of Welsh speech: 91.7 per cent spoke Welsh in 1901, a figure fallen to 62.0 per cent in 1991.

Harold Carter

Anglesey

views updated May 14 2018

Anglesey (Ynys Môn) Island off the nw coast of Wales, separated from the mainland by the narrow Menai Strait. Formerly a Welsh county, it became part of Gwynedd in 1974. The chief town is Beaumaris, famous for a moated castle built by Edward I (1295). Holyhead is a major ferry terminus for Ireland. Area: 718sq km (276sq mi). Pop. (2001) 66,829.

Anglesey

views updated May 11 2018

Anglesey an island of North Wales, which in the 1st century ad was a centre of Druid power and resistance to Roman invasion; in ad 61 it was attacked by Suetonius Paulinus, who killed Druid priests and cut down sacred groves.