Penmon Circular (4.83miles / 7.77km)

Another of my favourite Môn locations today. Last time I was here was during one of the lockdowns (I know... naughty naughty.) and it was dead. Not so quiet today, but still absolutely gorgeous. The first section of the walk, from where we park, to the lighthouse could easily be done with a pram or wheelchair. After that though, we joined onto the coastal path and, although easy walking, it isn’t suitable for wheels. It was just me and Anwen today. Megan is staying at her aunt and uncle’s in South Wales (eating them out of house and home by all accounts). This was a lovely, easy walk. Definitely suitable for a small child, with no steep sections and lots to see.

Distance: 7.77km / 4.83 miles (according to the OS map app)

Time taken: 1 hr 49

Total ascent: 723.46ft / 220.51m (OS map app)

Parking: Yes, free parking in lay-bys on the approach to Penmon Priory. Paid car parks at the Priory and lighthouse.

Facilities: Cafe with toilets at Penmon Point.

Walkers: myself (33 yrs, fat and unfit) and Anwen (15 months, in the rucksack).

1. To park, follow the road towards Penmon Point (there are plenty of brown signs to follow for the priory). As the road turns sharp left along the side of the Menai Straits you’ll pass three lay-bys on your right. I parked in the second one of these. Once you’ve parked up, set off along the same road towards the Priory. There’s fantastic views along here of Eryri (Err urgh ee) on your right and Penmon Deer Park on your left (which, as the name suggests, historically held deer). Ahead of you, by the Straits you’ll see the remains of two quarries. We pass by Penmon Park Quarry first, a limestone quarry above us on the left with the remains of numerous industrial buildings, including a stone landing stage, situated directly below the road. We cross a bridge over the incline which would once have brought the stone down from the quarry above. Beyond Penmon Park Quarry is Flagstaff Quarry. Penmon limestone (along with limestone from Llanddona, Moelfre and Caergybi) was used to build Birmingham Town Hall and help with the reconstruction of Liverpool and Manchester following the destruction caused by World War II. The stone was also used in the construction of Menai and Britannia Bridges.

View from the car park across to Eryri.

View from the car park.

Follow the road.

Penmon Deer Park.

Flagstaff Quarry.

2. We soon get to the famous Penmon Priory and it’s worth taking a bit of time to have a look around. (Quick note- before we arrive at the Priory there is a derelict outbuilding and a driveway with a gate across it leading up to a holiday let. This is where we will come out of later on.) There’s access to the rectory, the church and graveyard, the dovecote, and the well. I had a wander around the rectory and the church today. The door to the dovecote is a bit low to get in with Anwen on my back... it’s definitely worth a look though. The inside is really impressive. The well is also worth a visit, I’m not religious at all but I find it to be very calm and peaceful. We gave it a miss today though due to time constraints.

Penmon Priory, Church, Well, and Dovecote

The sixth century saw a rise of the Christian church throughout the Celtic world. This was accompanied by a growing tendency to form monasteries in remote places to follow ascetic lifestyles. During this time two monasteries were formed at opposite ends of Anglesey by two friends, Seiriol and Cybi. St Cybi’s monastery was at the heart of what is now Caergybi (Holyhead) and St Seiriol set up in Penmon.

According to legend, the two Saints used to meet weekly near Llanerchymedd, near the centre of the island. Cybi would walk from Caergybi, facing the rising sun in the morning and the setting sun in the evening. Seiriol, travelling in the opposite direction, would have the sun to his back during his journey. They were thus known as Cybi the Dark and Seiriol the Fair.

Penmon today has a range of interesting buildings. The oldest is most likely St Seiriol’s Well. Early Celtic churches were usually associated with a holy well. They were thought to have healing powers and were often visited by pilgrims. Baptisms also took place there. The belief in the power of the wells is probably carried over from old pre-Christian Celtic religions. The well is reached by walking up a path past a fish pond built by the monks. It’s enclosed within a small building, most of which is brick representing reconstruction in the 18th century; the flooring and lower parts of the well are probably older. The foundations of another small building may be seen just next to the well. This is popularly thought to be the remains of St Seiriol’s cell, where he would have lived, but there is no evidence to support this and its shape is not like other 6th century hermitages.

St Seiriol’s monastery developed throughout the centuries and by the 10th century it had a wooden church building and two high crosses that probably stood at the entrance to the monastic grounds. However, Viking raids in 971 destroyed the church. Rebuilding the church in stone, giving the present building, took place throughout the 12th century during the prosperous period under the rule of Gruffudd ap Cynan and Owain Gwynedd. This is the most complete building of its age in northwest Wales.

The church is of the typical cruciform arrangement. The nave is the oldest part, finished in about 1140. The transepts and tower were built in 1160-1170. The chancel was added in 1220-1240 during the rule of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn Fawr). This occurred at the time when the king convinced the monasteries in North Wales to reorganise under the Augustine Order.

Approaching the church from the chancel.

Looking through from the nave into the chancel.

The chancel.

The nave.

Roof of the nave.

Looking down on the church from the nave end.

Also built around this time was a refectory, with a large dining hall, cellars, and a dormitory. The building between the refectory and the south transept was the prior’s house, probably built in the 16th century. It’s now a private dwelling. The area in the middle was the cloister.

Refectory with dovecote in the background.

Inside the dining hall of the refectory.

The monastery was dissolved in 1537, during the reign of Henry VIII, along with most others in England and Wales. The lands then passed into the ownership of the local landowners, the Bulkeley family, and was used as a deer park. The church remained in use, however, and much of it was rebuilt in 1855.

The two high crosses that graced the entrance to the early medieval monastery are still in existence and are now housed in the church. The larger cross, which until 1977 stood in its original position in the deer park, is now in the nave. It’s badly worn, but you can still just barely see the interlacing decorative patterns and pictorial scene showing the temptation of St Anthony, along with a probable hunting scene. The patterns suggest a Scandinavian influence.

Large cross.

The smaller cross, located in the south transept, is much less weathered. This is because it was once used as a lintel for one of the refectory windows; one of the arms of the cross was cut off for this use. The cross is mainly decorated with knotwork along with two animal heads on the sides. A baptismal font elsewhere in the church has similar patterns and may have been the original base of this cross.

Smaller cross with missing arm.

Sir Richard Bulkeley, who owned the old monastery land after dissolution, probably built the dovecote that stands nearby, in about 1600. This was built to house domestic pigeons for their eggs and meat. This square building has a large domed roof with a small cupola on the top where the birds could fly in and out. Inside we’re 1000 nesting boxes to accommodate the doves. A pillar in the centre would have supported a revolving ladder to provide access to the boxes.

After exploring the buildings we carry on up the lane past the dovecote. There is a little bit of an uphill pull here but it’s not too bad and once we reach the top Ynys Seiriol (Un iss Say ree ol - Puffin Island) comes into view, and it’s downhill all the way to the lighthouse. It’s a busy little lane, so watch out for cars passing.

Ynys Seiriol comes into view.

3. The lighthouse appears soon after Ynys Seiriol and we get to the (often very busy) car parking areas, pass the cafe on the right and reach the end of the track. I didn’t spend too much time here today as it was extremely busy and I’ve been many times before. It’s definitely worth taking everything in though. Even though I’ve visited a lot over the years, the beauty of Trwyn Du (Tr oo in Dee- Penmon Point) never fails to impress.

Lighthouse and Ynys Seiriol.

The sound between Trwyn Du and Ynys Seiriol.

The Great Orme can be seen in the distance on the right.

Ynys Seiriol and Trwyn Du Lighthouse

When St Seiriol founded the Penmon monastery he also set up a community on a small island just off the coast, about 1/2 mile from the priory. This island is called Ynys Seiriol (Seiriol’s Island). It’s known as Puffin Island in English and the Vikings called it Priestholm. The island has a number of ruins of medieval monastic buildings, including the tower of a 12th century church. It is said that St Seiriol himself is buried there, and perhaps also King Maelgwn Gwynedd, who was the ruler of North Wales and patron of St Seiriol in setting up the religious community.

The island is mentioned by Gerald of Wales in his Journey Through Wales in 1188. He notes that it was an ecclesiastical settlement at the time, “ inhabited by hermits, living by manual labour and serving God“. He also says that, according to legend, whenever there was strife within the community a plague of small mice would devour all their food.

A modern day plague of rats has also affected the island. As the English name suggests, Ynys Seiriol once had large numbers of puffins, as well as other seabirds such as guillemots. However, brown rats found their way to the island in the 1890s, decimating the populations of nesting birds. At this time the puffin population was already declining because the birds had become a delicacy, but the rats further reduced their numbers to just 20 pairs. In 1998 a program was begun by the Countryside Council for Wales to rid the island of rats, in the hope of encouraging the birds to return.

The sound between Ynys Seiriol and Trwyn Du is treacherous. A paddle steamer called the Rothesay Castle, carrying 150 passengers on a day trip from Liverpool, sank here in 1831. The weather was poor, the captain drunk and, despite being asked to by passengers, refused to turn back. The ship was leaking like a sieve but the pumps were not working and there was not a single bucket to bail water with. On top of this, the single lifeboat had a hole in it and no oars. At around 1am on August 18th the ship ran aground on Dutchman Bank (between Ynys Seiriol and Llanfairfechan). There was no lantern on board and no way of alerting anyone else to their distress. It took just one and a half hours for the ship to be battered to bits. The captain and two mates were swept to their death when the funnel collapsed. When help finally arrived the next morning only twenty three passengers were found alive. As a result of the disaster a lifeboat station was established at Penmon (closed in 1915), and the lighthouse was built soon after between 1835-1838.

Trwyn Du lighthouse was designed by James Walker. It is 29metres tall and has a stepped base to discourage the huge upsurges of waves. Originally there was a wooden bridge / path so that the keepers could access the lighthouse at high tide. This has long gone but the remains of the footings are still there. It was originally manned by two keepers but in 1922 became the first of Trinity House’s lighthouses to be automated. The lamp was converted to solar power in 1996. The lighthouse flashes every 5 seconds and can be seen 12 nautical miles (44km) away.

After spending a short time at the lighthouse we turn back on ourselves up the road the way we’ve come. As we come alongside the cafe we follow the coastal path sign to the right and leave the road. We follow the well signed and well defined path into the Deer Park. It’s amazing how quickly the crowds disappear and we pass only a handful of people on the rest of the walk!

There are some kissing gates to negotiate but none that I struggled with. There are some uneven steps to climb up early on, but apart from this it’s pretty easy going. The path starts off amongst ferns and under trees but we soon step out into the open fields of the Deer Park. Although there are no deer here now now we did walk through fields containing sheep and cattle, so a reminder here that all dogs should be kept on a lead. The cattle we passed showed absolutely no interest in us at all, but another reminder to use common sense when walking through fields with cattle... especially if there are cows with calves at foot. They can be very protective and very dangerous.

Coastal path away from Trwyn Du.

Anwen looking unimpressed.

Steps up.

Lovely shady section of path.

Path begins to open up into fields.

When we get to the first section of high walls, we turn right through a kissing gate.

Follow the boundary to the top left of the field and through another kissing gate.

Looking back at Ynys Seiriol.

Through the kissing gate and into field with sheep and cattle.

Looking down towards the coast.

Follow the boundary.

We get an occasional glimpse of the view behind the wall.

Looking back the way we’ve come.

Just before we reach the cottage at the far end of the final field, before heading out onto the lane, there is a gateway to our left. We could take this and follow the footpath slightly left to the Priory, or slightly right to cut out the road section. I’ll be honest, I had intended to follow the ‘slightly right’ path but the map didn’t quite match the reality so I headed past it expecting the route I was going to take to be after we passed the cottage. I could have gone back, it really wasn’t far, but I decided to do some road sections instead so I could nosy at the local houses!

Gateway to the left... which I should have taken! Next time.

Lane leading down from the Deer Park.

4. After leaving the Deer Park we followed the lane and turned left at the first junction, into the hamlet of Caim. The road goes uphill for a short while here. There really isn’t much more to say about this section.

Caim.

Following the road up the hill.

Views across Ynys Môn.

5. Before long we get to these impressive steps...

... which take us back into the Deer Park. I had thought about carrying on on the road, but I couldn’t resist these! There’s a gate at the top.

Looking down from the top of the stairs.

There is a settlement marked on the map here, but if anything exists it was hiding under all the undergrowth and I couldn’t spot any sign of it. The path goes straight across an open field here with impressive views of Eryri to the right of us, and Penmon in front. I was definitely glad I took this path.

Follow the path straight across the open field.

Views across the Menai to Eryri.

Once you’ve cut across the open section of the field there is a small footpath sign pointing you down the hill.

Follow the sign down the hill to the right.

Stay on the left...

... and you’ll be funnelled onto this track.

The track comes out on the driveway of the holiday let mentioned earlier. I remember this building in its ruined state, before it was renovated. The bell had always given me the impression that it was some kind of school, however, I’ve since learnt that it was the former quarrymen’s barracks.

Renovated barracks.

We turn right, down the driveway, and through the gate back onto the road we started on. Right again, and we follow the road back to the car. I did nip off the road at one point to have a short stroll along the water’s edge.