history – Geoff's travel blog.

Aberffraw – Home of the ancient kings of Wales

January 29, 2026Posted in Uncategorized, WalesTagged historyLeave a comment

Aberffraw contains one of the oldest Mesolithic sites from prehistoric Wales, dating back around 9,000 years. At Aberffraw Bay is the Trwyn Du (Welsh: Black nose) site. The burial was discovered in 1977 while excavating a Bronze Age bowl barrow from 2000 BC. This 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, around 500 BC.

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 firmly established the capital of the Kingdom of Gwynedd

Rhodri’s palace became a royal court, and his son Anarawd ap Rhodri started a new branch called the Royal House of Aberffraw. Anarawd’s descendants ruled Gwynedd for many years and were later known as the Prince of Wales. In 1201, Llywelyn ab Iorwerth restored the palace as a home and set up a team to work like the original royal staff from 914. Prince Llywelyn the Great continued to hold the Royal court at Aberffraw, matching the standards of the nearby English Kingdom. His partner was Joan, daughter of King John of England, who also participated in royal events at Aberffraw for both Welsh and English nobles. Llywelyn updated the rules for the royal staff based on the original laws from 914 for the Aberffraw Royal Palace. This palace served as the main residence for the Prince of Gwynedd since Rhodri the Great’s time.

The household included twelve gentlemen who made up the royal guard and rode horses supplied by the king.

There were 35 court positions:

The Master of the Palace
The Domestic Chaplain / The Queen’s Chaplain
The Steward of the Household / The Steward to the Queen
The Master of the Hawks
The Judge of the Palace
The Master of the Horse / Master of the Horse to the Queen
The Chamberlain / Queen’s Chamberlain
The Domestic Bard
The Officer to Command Silence
The Master of the Hounds
The Metheglin (Mead brewer)
The Physician of the Palace
The Cup Bearer
The Door Keeper
The Cook / The Queen’s Cook
The Sconce bearer / The Queen’s Sconce bearer
The Woman of the Queen’s Chamber
The Door-Keeper to the Queen
The Groom of the Rein
The Officer to Support the Prince’s Feet at Banquets
The Bailiff of the Royal Demesne
The Apparitor
The Gate-Keeper
The Watchmen of the Palace
The Woodman
The Baker Woman
The Palace Smith
The Laundress
The Chief of Song

These were the members of the royal household. They had their land through their roles. They received clothing material from the prince and linen from the queen. They were called together by the palace horn.

Remote home on the banks of the river Ffraw.

Visit to St. Cwyfan’s Church

May 14, 2025July 28, 2025Posted in UncategorizedTagged europe, history, ireland, travel, WalesLeave a comment

The most recognizable church on Anglesey, St. Cwyfan’s, is popularly known as the Church in the Sea (or eglwys bach y mor in Welsh). Perched on a tiny island called Cribinau, encircled by a sea wall, this simple medieval church dates to the 12th century. It is thought to be dedicated to the Irish St. Kevin, who founded the monastery across the sea at Glendalough in Co Wicklow, Ireland.

It may seem an odd and perilous place to build a church, but it originally stood at the end of a peninsula between two bays. In the decades after this the sea slowly eroded the coast in the two bays enough that the peninsula was cut off, turning it into an island.

A causeway was built to the island to allow parishioners to get to the island. However, even with the causeway, sometimes high tides prevented access. At those times services were held in a room in the nearby house, Plas Llangwyfan, which was specially consecrated for the purpose.

The waves continued to eat away at the island until, in the late 19th century, some of the graves surrounding the church began to fall into the sea. At this time the church was also disused and roofless, having been replaced by a new church further inland. However, in 1893 local architect Harold Hughes, concerned for the fate of this evocative old church, raised money to save it by constructing a seawall around the island and restoring the building.

Although the church was initially built in the 12th century, only a small portion of the south wall dates from this period. Most of the walls were rebuilt during a 14th century reconstruction. In the early 16th century an aisle was added to the north side, accessed through an arcade of three arches, but it was demolished in the early 19th century as the cliff edge eroded ever closer. The infilled arches can now be seen in the outer wall, after the old cement mortar was removed during refurbishment in 2006. This refurbishment also involved limewashing the walls, making them very white, to the consternation of some locals who were used to the old grey appearance.

This tiny church was at the centre of a big controversy in the 18th century. In 1766 the Bishop of Bangor appointed Dr Thomas Bowles as the parish priest of Trefdraeth, which included St. Cwyfan’s as a chapelry. Unfortunately Dr Bowles spoke no Welsh, and only five of the 500 parishioners understood English. They protested against his appointment and eventually the case was heard in the ecclesiastical court in 1773. The judge ruled that Bowles should not have been appointed, as Welsh speaking priests should be sent to primarily Welsh speaking parishes. However, once a priest has been granted ecclesiastical freehold of a parish it is very difficult to remove them, so the judge ruled that he should be allowed to stay in his post, which he did until his death later that year.

A Welsh primer for the way to the church. –