On the left in the same street is a very early police station or lock-up. Now used as an office, the building remains largely in its original state on the ground floor, with a small cell and its peephole flap in the heavy door. The outside remains entirely as it was. The first floor was used as aMagistrates court.
At the end of the street, on the left is the entrance to a car park located on the site of what was originally the old railway shunting yard. To the right is Glandwr Terrace.
At the bottom of the street and to the left is Pont Plas and the River Cefni. This effectively forms another entrance to the town centre. To the left in about 100 yards the Church of St Cyngar can be seen behind a doctors' surgery and is well worth a visit, with its square and castellated tower. It is likely that the original church may have been deliberately located in the woodland, well hidden from the prowling Vikings.
Returning towards the bridge and to the left a windmill can be seen on the top of Graig Fawr (big rock), which is a massive geological feature. The mill has now been rather unattractively capped with a peculiar roof, enclosing communications aerials.
Running east from the square is Bridge Street, forming a visual boundary at the double arched bridge that has a series of small shops on the north side. Regrettably those originally on the south side were demolished in 1974. The sketch shows the original buildings. Such bridges with shops are an extremely rare feature.
Walking along Church Street one gets a glimpse of the clock and the Town Hall. The street opens onto the square, formed by the High Street on the north side, the Bull Hotel and the Gothic Town Hall standing tall on the south side.
County and Parliamentary election results and other formal civic announcements are still made from the first floor balcony of the piano nobile.
Travel two or three miles up Bridge Street towards Penmynydd you will find Plas Penmynydd, the ancestral home of the Tudor dynasty, and direct descendants of Llewelyn the Great (Llewelyn Fawr) and Ednyfed Fychan. Henry Tudor's victory over Richard the Third at Bosworth established a Welsh speaking court in London, albeit for a short period.
Keep strolling
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your comments
Carol Gillard Little Sutton
I am doing my family history and recentley visited LLangefni. I was looking for the Caernavon Castle Inn which was run by my family in 1851. Does anyone know where it was?.
Fri Aug 28 09:43:28 2009
Mary Grabulis
I am an American and I visited LLangefni last year for the first time. My great great grandmother Hannah Jones was born nearby. The tiny cottage she was born in is still standing. Her father was a collier and they immigrated to the states in the 1870s. Met a relative and we spent hours talking family, having dinner and getting a tour of the area where my family came from. What a glorious day it was. We look forward to coming back to see the rest of the island.
Tue Jun 30 14:21:50 2009
hugh gibbon from kent
I see no-one's mentioned the grammar school, is it still there? Good teachers, dreadful buildings. I left in 1951. I have a photo of the 1951 Form VI if anyone wants to see it, and of the teaching staff.
Mon Mar 9 10:23:55 2009
Ann Thorman from Wrexham
Does River Street still exist? My great grandfather lived there and I used to visit Llangefni often in the 50s and 60s.
Tue Nov 18 09:00:15 2008
anna,devon
Bodifor. I think this was the name of a house in LLangefni where the David jones family once lived in the arly 1900's.Does it still exist? Has anyone ever heard of this family?Also, of Jane Jones David's sister in law who lived next door with her son Harold Owen Jones who was born out in Australia, his mother and father having once emigrated and met there.
Mon Oct 6 10:16:40 2008
dafydd (videos) roberts, belfast
Just returned from another week with friends & family in llangefni. Unfortunately i do have to agree with the last couple of comments here that its a disgrace that the likes of the cattlemarket has been replaced by a supermarket, after all llangefni is & always will be a market town, on the positive side i was delighted to see that the market hotel has reopened & now been managed by a local man , a very good friend of mine who is a llangefni man through & through Charlie Hennegan, i hope that he does well & gets plenty of support from the community as im sure he will.
I would recommend to anyone visiting Llangefni that they call into tafarn y rhos which is just a few minutes drive from the town centre, they have a very good selection of old pics of llangefni as it was years ago, you"ll also recieve a very warm welcome there from Derek & Kelly. I'm returning again in the very near future, & regardless of a few negative things about the old town i always look forward to going back again & again because it still is a warm & lovely old town.
Tue Sep 23 09:37:47 2008
G Jones
Just did a flying visit to Llangefni, boy is it run down, should have kept in place the lifeblood of the town ie the cattle market. Another kebab & charity shop paradise! Glad we upped sticks mid eighties and got away. Tennis club all weeds, no rugby posts at Ysgol Gyfun. Somebody get a grip eh!
Fri Aug 22 09:56:24 2008
Margaret Coles, Wallasey
My great grandmother, Margaret Jones from Llangefni, married Walter Creber, a water engineer, and they went to live in Barrhead, Scotland. Walter built his own car, and was the first in Barrhead to own one. They visited Llangefni in this horseless carriage sometime in the 1800s. I have a photo taken in front of Regent House, R. Jones and Son, and beside R H Jones' Butcher shop. I have tried to find the location of those shops in Llangefni, but couldn't spot it. No doubt they are now gone, but can anyone help as to where they used to be?
Fri Aug 22 09:49:23 2008
Terry, llangefni
I have been living in llangefni all my life (45 years) how it has changed, no longer is it safe to leave your front doors open cars unlocked, ok the worse is over now that cameras have been installed and some of the druggies locked up/kicked but still there is a lack of police presence, especially in town, many of the inhabitants of pencraig have been sent here from liverpool manchester rhyl etc where they have been removed from, I hardly know anyone in pencraig now!
The old buildings are disappearing fast, someone in the council obviously has no interest in llangefni and its history, the cattle market now gone to be replaced by an asda store! Llangefni will always be my town, my home, there are still remnants of the old llangefin left, lets hope these are preserved , so past generations are not forgotten and left as silent memories that have turned to dust.I will keep living here , its still a beautiful place and things are looking much better than they were a few years ago.
Remember also that llangefni was recognised as the town with the highest percentage of welsh speakers in wales (83% , 2001 census)!
Wed Jul 9 14:20:35 2008
Dafydd (video) Roberts Belfast
I'm originally from the mighty village of Gaerwen but spent most of my life in Llangefni, including secondary school. I now live in N Ireland but regularly visit friends & family in Llan. It is very unfortunate that the curse of the drugs seems to take a lot of the headlines in Llan at this time, I've a few friends who have been affected terribly through drugs. But this problem is everywhere & I find it unfair to single Llangefni out in regard to this problem. The people of Llangefni are some of the warmest, wittiest & kind people that you will come across, & the town itself is still beautiful, the Dingle for instance: I've very fond memories of the Dingle but I won't divulge ha ha. I look forward to visiting again in the very near future.
Tue Jan 15 09:48:55 2008
Barbara Doogan - Bunyip, Australia
Visited Llangefni this year and it was quite upsetting to see the changes there. Such a shame to see such a historic town treated the way it is being treated. I used to love going to the cattle market with dad each week now that is all gone. The new board walk is great through the Dingle though. My walk through there brought back memories of school cross country!!
Thu Nov 22 10:52:49 2007
