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Llanvair-Pwllgwyngyll (Llan-Fair-Pwll-Gwyngyll) - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
LLANVAIR-PWLLGWYNGYLL (LLAN-FAIR-PWLL-GWYNGYLL), a parish, in the union of Bangor and Beaumaris, hundred of Tyndaethwy, county of Anglesey, North Wales, 4 miles (W. by S.) from Bangor; containing 617 inhabitants. The name of this parish is derived from the dedication of its church to St. Mary, and the distinguishing adjunct from its position nearly oppo site to a whirlpool in the Menai strait, formed by the Swelley rocks, which rages with impetuous violence, and of which the term "Pwll Gwyngyll" is emphatically descriptive. The rocks, most of which are visible at low water, obstruct the channel of the strait, and when the lower rocks are covered, the tide, rushing between them with tremendous fury, forms numerous vortices and strong eddies, exceedingly dangerous to vessels navigating this part of the Menai, which are sometimes caught by the rapidity of the current, and dashed against the rocks that appear above the surface. The difficulty of avoiding this impending danger at certain states of the tide, and the roaring noise and violent agitation of the waters, have obtained for this part of the strait the appellation of the Scylla and Charybdis of Welsh mariners, of similar import with its Welsh name Pwll Ceris. At high water the agitation subsides, and the appearance of the surface is smooth and tranquil, differing in no respect from the other parts of the strait.
The parish is situated on the western shore of the Menai strait, and comprises 745 acres, of which 115 are common or waste land. The surrounding scenery is marked with features of rugged and romantic grandeur; and the views over the Menai, which near this place forms a noble bend, and of the adjacent country, combine much picturesque beauty and many interesting objects. On the summit of a craggy eminence to the north of the great Holyhead road, which passes through the parish, is a lofty column, erected by the inhabitants of the counties of Anglesey and Carnarvon, to the honour of their countryman, Henry William, the present Marquess of Anglesey. Upon the north side of the base is an appropriate inscription, commemorating the exploits of that gallant commander, during the campaign in Spain, in the year 1807, and at the memorable battle of Waterloo, in 1815. The village is situated on the road to Holyhead, near the Chester and Holyhead railway, and at no great distance from the Menai suspension bridge. Its inhabitants are partly employed in agriculture, and partly in some extensive quarries, which are worked with considerable advantage. The stone dug in these quarries is a compact schistus of good quality, and every facility is afforded for its exportation by the Menai, on the shore of which is a commodious wharf.
The living is a rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Llandysillio annexed, rated in the king's books at £6. 15.; present net income, £223, with a glebehouse; patron, the Bishop of Bangor. The tithes of the parish have been commuted for a rent-charge of £120, and the glebe comprises ten acres. The church is remarkable, says a writer in the Archæologia Cambrensis, "not only for standing in one of the most enviable situations anywhere to be met with, but also for being quite unique amongst all the churches of Anglesey, on account of its form." It has "a circular apse at the eastern end; and hence it may be inferred that the chancel, at least, is a portion of the original building erected here before the Anglo-Norman conquest of the country, and before that universal re-edification of the churches of Anglesey which took place in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries." The total interior length of the building is fifty-one feet; the width in the western part fourteen feet, and in the chancel eleven feet and a half. It is supposed that the western portion, or nave, is a later addition; and that the original church consisted only of the narrower part, or chancel, and the semicircular apse: the present window in the apse is a plain square-headed one of two lights, of the seventeenth century. At the western extremity of the church is a bell-turret in excellent preservation. There are places of worship for Calvinistic Methodists, Wesleyan Methodists, and Independents; in each of which a Sunday school is also held. The Rev. Henry Rowlands granted two rent-charges on Plâs Gwyn, in the parish of Llanedwen, one of 8s. for reading evening service on Sundays in the church when required, and the other of 21s. for the poor on St. Thomas's day. Mr. Wynne, also, bequeathed a charge of 6s. 8d. for the latter purpose, the period not mentioned. Two other donors, unknown, gave respectively £5 and £2. 10., the latter to be distributed in bread among the poor; but about twenty or thirty years since, these sums, with other funds belonging to the parish, were expended in erecting eight tenements, with gardens attached, which poor families are allowed to occupy rent-free. In a field near Tŷ-Mawr are the remains of a large cromlech, partly thrown down; the table stone now lies upon stones that formerly supported it from the ground.
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