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Cliciwch yma am y fersiwn Cymraeg
 Population
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- 1175 (1991) |
The Name, |
Pentraeth, pen -’end’, and the common word ‘traeth’(beach). Pentraeth
stands by Traeth Coch.
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Traeth Coch |
- traeth(beach) + coch(red), because of the colour of the sand. It is called ‘Red
Wharf’ in English due to the landing place there for the coastal ship trade.
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Llanfair Betws Geraint |
- the old name for Pentraeth. |
Llan |
- a church, parish, district in the care of a priest.
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Mair |
- the mother of Jesus. The parish church has been consecrated to
Saint Mary. |
Betws |
- a quiet place to which to withdraw, chapel, prayer house.
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Geraint |
- masculine name that is used on housing estates in the district. It is believed that
there was a church standing at Pentraeth before the present church named after an early
British saint, called Geraint.
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Pentraeth stands about 7km to the north of Menai
Bridge on
the A5025. It stands on the B5109 and A5025 crossroads.
Pentraeth is an attractive village on the bank of the River
Nodwydd and it is believed that the sea came up to it at one
time.
The antiquarian Paul Panton married the heiress of Plas Gwyn, a
Georgian mansion and made his home there. His name is remembered in that of the village
inn, the Panton Arms. It was here that Charles Dickens stayed when he came to report on
the disastrous history of ‘The Royal Charter’.
By Plas Gwyn there is a place called Llain
Abernodwydd. At that spot there are three stones denoting the place where it is said
that Einion ap Gwalchmai jumped over 40 feet to win himself a wife.
The church, Saint Mary’s Church, stands on the crossroads
where the road from Amlwch to Menai Bridge crosses the road from Beaumaris to Llangefni.
In the middle of the village square can be seen the Mace Shop or the old Cloth Hall long
ago and lower down, the shop and home of Ted Wright, where the White Horse stood over a
century ago. George Borrow stayed here in 1854 on his journey through Wales. Next door can
be seen the hairdresser’s shop, Ty Llwyd of long ago, that was a sweet shop.
Turning left passed the hairdresser’s shop and down Elias terrace the road leading to
Talwrn and Llangefni, the B5109 can be seen. Turning left after passing the terrace, the
school, Ysgol Gymuned Pentraeth (Pentaeth Community School) faces
us.
Standing on the school yard and facing the Talwrn road Hendre Hywel can be seen to the
West and the old signs of the Pentraeth Railway built at the
beginning of the century.
It is a very ancient village with much history belonging to it, with many famous and renowned people having been born here, some having been
buried here and some still living here, such as the author, Mair Wyn
Hughes. The next time you are in Anglesey, do not speed through the village. Wait a
while to get a feel for the place. George Borrow did just that, and this is what he wrote
in his book, Wild Wales, -
" Mountain Lidiart and the Northern hill formed the headlands of a beautiful bay into
which the waters of the traeth dell, from which I had come, were discharged. A sandbank,
probably covered with the sea at high tide, seemed to stretch from mountain Lidiart a
considerable way towards the northern hill. Mountain, bay, and sandbank were bathed in
sunshine, the water was perfectly calm; nothing was moving upon it, nor upon the shore,
and I thought I had never beheld a more beautiful and tranquil scene."
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