Archaeology

2km
1.2miles

Bodafon
 Mountain

Llanallgo

Lligwy Bay

L L A N E U G R A D

L L A N E I L I A N

M O E L F R E

Bodafon
Mountain
Homestead

14

Traeth Lligwy
Fish Weir

13

Ffynnon Allgo

12

Capel Lligwy

11

Bodofan
Hut Groups

10

Din Lligwy

9

Coed Newydd

8

Parc Salmon

7

Hut Group

6

Glan'r Afon

5

Bwlch-y-Dafarn

4

standing stone

3

Burial Chamber

2

Cave

1

  

Map of Moelfre Community, showing the location of the Scheduled Monuments. Three of the monuments are in the care of Cadw. .

The Community of Moelfre has 14 Scheduled Ancient Monuments, which is more than any other in Anglesey. The majority are prehistoric and include a neolithic burial site and a standing stone. However six of them are Iron Age settlements, suggesting a well-settled landscape by the time the Romans arrived. Three of the monuments (denoted in the table by ) are in the care of Cadw. These are signposted from the road, have public access and explanation boards at the site. Other scheduled monuments may or may not be visible from roads or footpaths, and have no automatic right of access.

More information Name, Site type ...

Name	Site type	Location	Details
1 Ogof Arian Cave	Cave	53.3686°N 4.2781°W / 53.3686; -4.2781 (Ogof Arian Cave), SH485881	Cave with an inner chamber that runs some 25m into the hillside. Neolithic flint tools have been found. It is also known locally as Ogof Ladran (Smugglers' Cave).[5]
2 Lligwy Burial Chamber	Chambered tomb	53.3499°N 4.2529°W / 53.3499; -4.2529 (Lligwy Burial Chamber), SH501860	Neolithic stone monument with a huge capstone supported by 8 side stones, all of locally occurring limestone. Described in 1781, excavated in 1909, it contained numerous Neolithic flints and pots, along with 15-30 human burials. An East, West and South alignment of stones suggests possible astronomical purposes.[6]
3 Plas Bodafon standing stone	Standing stone	53.3444°N 4.2907°W / 53.3444; -4.2907 (Plas Bodafon, standing stone to WNW of), SH476855	In woodland west of Plas Bodafon, the prehistoric stone is 1.3m high, of an unusual quartzite.[7]
4 Bwlch-y-Dafarn Enclosed Hut Group	Enclosed hut circle	53.3463°N 4.2654°W / 53.3463; -4.2654 (Bwlch-y-Dafarn Enclosed Hut Group), SH492856	Roughly rectangular walled enclosure. Within it a well defined roundhouse, 6m across with paved floor, had Roman pottery finds. There are also two large rectangular buildings.[8]
5 Glan'r Afon Hut Circle	Unenclosed hut circle	53.3448°N 4.2536°W / 53.3448; -4.2536 (Hut Group N of Glan'r Afon), SH500854	Hut circle of 8m diameter with rubble-filled 1.3m thick walls, up to 0.8m high. Now in thick woodland; rectangular buildings alongside have also been recorded.[9]
6 Marian-glas Hut Group	Unenclosed hut circle	53.3379°N 4.2516°W / 53.3379; -4.2516 (Marian Glas Hut Group), SH501846	A roundhouse settlement, also called Cae Marh, with several huts with thick walls, some standing up to 1.4m high. Some of the hut walls are now obscured by a thicket, while others are visible as wall lines in the lawns of Marianglas caravan park. A sign by the Ministry of Public Building and Works (1962–70) indicates the location.[10]
7 Parc Salmon Hut Group	Unenclosed hut circle	53.3509°N 4.2552°W / 53.3509; -4.2552 (Parc Salmon Hut Group), SH500861	Circular hut and a nearby mound of discarded shellfish, with pottery and other items including half of a bronze ring. The hut had flooring of cobbles set in the earth, and a mortar stone set into the floor.[11]
8 Coed Newydd Smelting Hearth	Burnt mound	53.3475°N 4.2715°W / 53.3475; -4.2715 (Coed Newydd Boiling Mounds & Smelting Hearth), SH488858	The schedule describes this as Boiling Mounds and a Smelting Hearth, referring to a probably Bronze Age feature with a flooring of fire-crazed cobbles in a sunken enclosure beside a small tributary of the Afon Lligwy. It featured in an article in Archaeologia Cambrensis of 1913, and is assumed to relate to either cooking or metalworking activities.[12]
9 Din Lligwy Hut Group	Enclosed hut circle	53.3508°N 4.2592°W / 53.3508; -4.2592 (Din Lligwy Ancient Village), SH497861	Stone foundation walls of a group of Iron Age houses and workshops, surrounded by an enclosing wall.[13]
10 Bodafon Mountain Hut Groups	Enclosed hut circle	53.3394°N 4.2983°W / 53.3394; -4.2983 (Bodafon Mountain Hut Groups), SH470849	Three groups of Iron Age hut circles have been identified on a terrace of the 168 metres (551 ft) hill called Bodafon Mountain. The area is now open heathland, allowing some access from the footpath that runs nearby. Excavations in the 1950s identified sherds of Samian ware, indicating occupation well into the Roman period.[14]
11 Capel Lligwy	Chapel	53.3523°N 4.2564°W / 53.3523; -4.2564 (Capel Lligwy), SH499863	A ruined chapel standing in a field near Rhos Lligwy, dating back to the first half of the 12th century. It contains a 16th-century side chapel with a vault beneath, and at some point became a private place of worship for a nearby house, then later fell into disrepair and now has no roof, but stands as a picturesque ruin.[15]
12 Ffynnon Allgo (St Allgo's Well)	Holy Well	53.3385°N 4.2559°W / 53.3385; -4.2559 (Ffynnon Allgo), SH498847	Medieval well associated with St Gallgo, whose church is at Llanallgo. The well is now within a caravan park.[16]
13 Traeth Lligwy Fish Weir	Fish trap	53.3606°N 4.2555°W / 53.3606; -4.2555 (Traeth Lligwy Fish Weir), SH500872	Fish trap built as a crescent of rocks near the low-tide mark of Lligwy Bay, near Moelfre, Anglesey. It is of uncertain date but thought to be medieval. At high tide it is completely covered, and was used to trap fish in the pond it creates at low tide.[17]

Close

Maritime history

1km
0.6miles

Ynys
Moelfre

Lifeboat
Station

Lligwy Bay

  

The headland north of Moelfre was the site of the wreck in 1859 of the steam clipper The Royal Charter near the end of its voyage from Australia to Liverpool.^[18] A memorial on the headland and an obelisk in Llanallgo Churchyard commemorate the 400 lives lost. On July 30, 1862, the screw sloop Enrica, soon to be commissioned as the Confederate States of America warship CSS Alabama, sheltered in Moelfre Bay while evading both British customs authorities and the USS Tuscarora, which had been sent to capture or sink her.^[19]

The difficulties posed to sailing ships by the east-facing shore and limited seaway resulted in many ships being wrecked off the Moelfre coast. As well as the Royal Charter, there is the wreck of the Princess Amelia (1868) on Lligwy beach, and the Kate caught fire off Moelfre harbour in 1933. Many ships, like the Royal Charter and, 100 years later, the Hindlea II, ended up driven by autumn or spring gales onto the shore. On the 500m of coast south of Moelfre there are the wrecks of the Brothers (1826), the Sarah Davison (1881), the Riviera (1892), the Dart (1888), the Alexandrina (1890), the Margaret Elizabeth (1906), the Dinas (1907), the Jewess (1910) and the William Henry (1915).^[20]

Lifeboats

Moelfre RNLI Lifeboat Station has a distinguished history, including the Hindlea rescue in 1959, when all the crew were rescued. There has been a lifeboat in Moelfre since 1854.^[21] The lifeboat station is open to the public for most of the year, and houses the Tamar-class lifeboat Kiwi and the inshore inflatable D-class lifeboat (IB1) Enfys.

Actress Jennifer Ellison was rescued in August 2013 off Moelfre.^[22]

A statue of Richard Evans, lifeboatman, was unveiled in 2004 by Prince Charles,^{[citation needed]} outside the Seawatch Museum, which is close to the lifeboat station. It presents information relating to the area and the history of the lifeboats associated with Moelfre.

Nature

This area is by the sandy beach Traeth Lligwy and the ancient stone homestead of Din Lligwy. Nearby Ynys Moelfre are birds, and seals and porpoises may also be seen. There are more details on the village website.^[23]