Self Catering Beaumaris

Self Catering Beaumaris

Some may want to get self catering in the town of Beaumaris. Some may want to see the historic areas, the castle the architecture, the entertainment the sports of the town or region. Some may want to use the town as a base to explore the region and the island of Anglesey. Some may want to get luxury self catering or cheap self catering. Some may want self catering accommodation that is a cabin, a cottage, an apartment, a villa, a flat or a house.
self catering beaumaris

The Royal Borough of Beaumaris (the first syllable is pronounced as in beautiful, so byoo-maris, not bow-maris) (Welsh: Biwmares) is the former county town of the island of Anglesey and is located on the shore of the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait - the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from the coast of North Wales.

Beaumaris Castle, located in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales was built as part of King Edward I's campaign to conquer the north of Wales. It was designed by James of St. George and was begun in 1295, but never completed. Beaumaris has been designated as a World Heritage site, and is regarded by some to be the most architecturally perfect castle in Britain.

Beaumaris castle was positioned to face Garth Celyn on the opposite shore of the Menai Strait and was intended, along with Conwy Castle and Caernarfon castle at either end of the Menai Straits, to overshadow the Welsh Royal home and centre of resistance to the English forces.

Beaumaris Castle (beau mareys - fair marsh) was the last of Edward I's fortresses in North Wales. Work started in 1295 and continued for 35 years, with over 3,500 workmen employed at the peak of construction. Finances and material ran out when King Edward turned his attentions towards Scotland, and the castle was not completed, although an impressive £15,000 was expended on its construction.

During the course of construction Edward I of England ordered that the inhabitants of nearby Llanfaes be evicted from their homes and relocated to the far side of the island at Newborough.

Beaumaris was originally a Viking settlement known as Porth y Wygyr (Port of the Vikings), but the town itself began its development in 1295 when Edward I of England commissioned the building of Beaumaris Castle as part of a chain of fortifications around the North Wales coast (others include Conwy, Caernarfon and Harlech).

otable buildings in the town include the castle, a courthouse built in 1614, the fourteenth century St Mary's parish church, the town gaol and the 14th century Tudor Rose - one of the oldest original timber-framed buildings in Britain and the Bulls Head Inn, built in 1472, which General Thomas Mytton made his headquarters during the Siege of Beaumaris during the second English Civil War in 1648. The hill leading north from the town Red Hill is so named from the blood spilled in that conflict.

A native of Anglesey, David Hughes, founded Beaumaris Grammar School in 1603. It became a non-selective school in 1952 when Anglesey County Council became the first authority in Britain to adopt comprehensive secondary education. The school was eventually moved to Menai Bridge and only the ancient hall of the original school building now remains.

Beaumaris Pier — opened in 1846 — was designed by Frederick Foster and comprises a masonry jetty continuing out into the Strait on wooden and concrete pilings. The pier was re-built and extended to 570 feet after storm damage in 1872 and a large pavilion was constructed at the end which contained a cafe. It was once the landing stage for steamships of the Liverpool and North Wales Shipping Company including the 'Snowdon', 'La Marguerite', 'St. Elvies' and 'St Trillo' although the larger vessels in its fleet - the 'St Seriol', and 'St Tudno' — were too large for the pier and landed their passengers at Menai Bridge. In the 1960s - through lack of maintenance - the pier became unsafe and was threatened with demolition but local yachtswoman and lifeboat secretary Miss Mary Burton made a massive private donation to ensure the pier was saved for the town. Today, although the impressive old steamers have long since gone, Beaumaris Pier is still a busy base for yachts and pleasure vessels of all kinds.

The ancient village of Llanfaes — a mile to the north of Beaumaris — had been conquered by the Anglo Saxons in 818 but had been freed by Merfyn Frych — King of Gwynedd — and remained a vital strategic settlement. To counter further Welsh uprisings, and to ensure control of the Menai Strait, Edward I chose the flat coastal plain as the place to build Beaumaris Castle. The castle was designed by the Savoyard mason Master James of St. George and is considered the most perfect example of a concentric castle. The troublesome residents of Llanfaes were removed en bloc to Rhosyr in the east of Anglesey to a new settlement King Edward entitled "Newborough", whilst French and English masons were brought in to construct the castle itself and the walled town.

Beaumaris was awarded a Royal Charter by Edward I which was drawn up on similar terms the charters of his other castle towns in North Wales and intended to invest only the English and Norman-French residents with civic rights. Native Welsh residents of Beaumaris were largely disqualified from holding any civic office, carrying any weapon, holding assemblies and were not allowed to purchase houses or land within the Borough. The Charter also specifically prohibited Jews (who had been largely expelled from most English towns) from living in Beaumaris. A requirement that all trade in the immediate area be conducted at Beaumaris meant the town became the main commercial centre of Anglesey.

Beaumaris became one of the three most important Saxon ports in the UK and the port of registration for all vessels in North West Wales covering not only every harbour on Anglesey but all the ports of North West Wales from Conwy to Pwllheli. Shipbuilding was a major industry in Beaumaris. This was centred on Gallows Point — a nearby spit of land extending into the Menai Straits about a mile west of the town. Gallows Point had originally been called Osmund's Eyre but was renamed when the town gallows were erected there — along with a Dead House for the corpses of criminals dispatched in public executions. Later, hangings were carried out at the town gaol and the bodies buried in a lime-pit within the curtilage of gaol. One of the last prisoners to hang at Beaumaris issued a curse before he died - decreeing that if he was innocent the four faces of the church clock would never show the same time.