Penmon (place)

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Coordinates: 53°18′21″N, 4°03′24″W Penmon is a place near the most easterly point of Anglesey, North Wales.

Contents

[edit] History

Penmon started as a small town in the 6th Century AD. There was a rise of the Christian Church around that time and there was a tendency to build monasteries. The town grew up around its monastery, set up by St. Seriol.[1] In 971 AD Vikings destroyed much of Penmon. Two crosses for inside the church and the decorated font remain from this time.[2]

[edit] Town

The town has some interesting buildings with histories to match.

[edit] St. Seriol's Well

Celtic churches in the 6th century were usually assosciated with a well, and as this was a Celtic town then it did not break the tradition. The well was built by the monks of Penmon and was believed to have healing powers by some people visiting it.[3]It is probably one of the oldest buildings in Penmon.[1] A small chamber surrounds the well.[4]

[edit] Penmon Priory

The monastery (called St. Seriol's monastery) grew in size until it developed into having a wooden church building by the tenth century. It was, however, destroyed in 971[1] and then rebuilt in the twelfth century in stone, from 1120 to 1123.[5] The oldest parts of the church nowadays date to the year 1140. Two Celtic crosses are displayed within the church however beforehand they stood outside it. [6] The priory church was enlarged in the early 13th Century, at the time of the Augustinian Rule.[7] It survived the Norman conquest. [8]Llywelyn fawr and his successors made the church wealthy, giving it land. These were taken away at the dissolution in 1536 but the church survived.[2] The dining hall was on the first floor, with a cellar below and dormitory above. In the 16th Century, a kitchen and a warming house were added at the east of the building. [9][10] St. Seiriol's Church (the centrepiece of the monastery) was given a grant of £20,570 along with 10 other sites around Wales in May 2004. This was to repair the leadwork, the rainwater goods, repointing and limewashing of the tower roof and the superstructure of the building. [11] Another building, the Priory House (which is a building set around the cloister court of the church), received slightly more money at £21,600. This was to repair the chimneys, the walls, the windows and the roof of the house. [11]The eleven sites altogether got grants of almost £300,000.[12] The eastern range of buildings has gone, but the southern one, containing the refectory with a dormitory above, still stands. [7]

[edit] Penmon Crosses

The two medieval crosses that once stood in front of the monastery (from the 10th Century AD)[13] are still in existence today, but are now inside the church. One cross is larger but badly weathered (because it stood outside until 1977, in a deer park).[7] It is almost complete except for about 30 centimetres between the top of the shaft and the head. [6]The other cross is smaller, not as weathered but has an arm of the cross cut off because it was used as a lintel for the refectory windows.[1] It has a modern stone base unlike the other cross.[6]

[edit] Dovecot

The dovecot (also spelt dovecote) standing near the church was probably built in about 1600, in Elizabethan times, by Sir Richard Bulkeley for housing pigeons for their eggs and meat. It has a large domed roof with a cupola on top so birds could fly in and out. [1] Inside the dovecot were 1000 nesting boxes for the doves, with a pillar in the centre supporting a revolving ladder so people had access to the nesting boxes, however this is now gone.[2]

[edit] Puffin Island

Main article: Puffin Island, Anglesey

St. Seiriol established a cell and a community on Puffin Island [14] half a mile from the coast at the same time as he founded the monastery. This is called Ynys Seriol or Puffin Island in English. On Puffin Island, there is a tower of a 12th century church. Rumours are that St. Seriol and maybe King Maelgwn Gwynedd (a ruler of North Wales) were buried there.[15] The island once had large numbers of puffins and guillemots however in the 1890s rats reduced them to 40 birds.[1] On the 17th August 1831, the Rothesay Castle, a ship from Liverpool sailing for the day, sank due to very heavy seas. Only 23 people survived out of over 140 who had been on board the steamer. [16] Afterwards, a lighthouse and a lifeboat station were built to stop ships sinking again. [15]

[edit] Beach

Penmon beach is the winner of a yellow flag award, along with another 102 beaches in Wales (in 2003). This is a standard which means the beach has obtained a high standard - it has clean bathing water (standard set by the EU), has disabled access and first aid facilities. [17][18][19]

[edit] Films

Penmon was also said to be part of a film set in The Fever, in which Angelina Jolie, most famous for her role as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, was starring. [20]

[edit] Geology

There are many geological features in Penmon, including fossils of brachiopods, a tunnel under a cliff and the cliff itself.

[edit] Cliff

The cliff is made up of limestone and shale[21], in alternating layers. It has been moved many times due to faults fracturing and moving the beds of rock, and there are distinct lines where the beds have been moved. The cliff is approximately eight metres high; however, the distribution of limestone and shale is different near the top and bottom of the cliff. There is a gradual change of shale to limestone; near the bottom, there is a lot more shale due to the erosion of the limestone, and nearer the top there is a lot more limestone as it has not been eroded. The cliff has been 'hit' by faults quite a lot, causing it to look unstable; rocks fall from it from time to time.

Tunnel under the cliff at Penmon. The faults have tilted the ground.
Tunnel under the cliff at Penmon. The faults have tilted the ground.

[edit] Tunnel

Penmon is close to the sea, thus making it prone to erosion. Quite a lot of the tunnel has been eroded away, thus causing a tunnel to form under the cliff. Faults hitting the cliff have moved the roof of it, causing a ledge halfway through the tunnel.

[edit] Fossils

There are many fossils around the area, especially brachiopods, and these range in size from very small (7 millimetres) to quite large (15 centimetres).

[edit] Limestone quarries

A lot of limestone has been mined from Penmon, and this limestone (along with limestone from Llanddona, Moelfre and Holyhead) was used to build Birmingham Town Hall and help with the reconstruction of Liverpool and Manchester following the destruction caused by World War Two.[22]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f History of Penmon, Anglesey.
  2. ^ a b c Penmon Priory and Dovecot
  3. ^ Saint Seriol's Well
  4. ^ St. Seriol's Well
  5. ^ Sheela Penmon.
  6. ^ a b c Penmon Priory.
  7. ^ a b c Penmon Priory
  8. ^ Anglesey - Places and Things to Do
  9. ^ Penmon Priory
  10. ^ Penmon Priory and Dovecote.
  11. ^ a b Funding for historic buildings in Wales.
  12. ^ Grants given to places in Wales by the government.
  13. ^ A Penmon Cross.
  14. ^ St. Seriol's Church.
  15. ^ a b Puffin Island information.
  16. ^ Penmon Shipwreck in 1831
  17. ^ Beach award for Criccieth West Beach, Wales.
  18. ^ Seaside awards for beaches in Anglesey.
  19. ^ Best beach awards
  20. ^ Film star back in Wales
  21. ^ Geology of Anglesey
  22. ^ Anglesey's Coastal Geology
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