Gaerwen () is a village on the island of

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog (occasionally spelt Llanfihangel Esgeifiog or Llanfihangelesgeifiog) is a community (civil parish) and former ecclesiastical parish in Anglesey, Wales, east of Llangefni. Description The community includes the villages of ...

. It is located in the south of the island west of

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (), is a large village and local government community on the island of Anglesey, Wales, on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and across the strait from Bangor. Both shortened (Llanfa ...

and southeast of

Llangefni Llangefni (meaning "church on the River Cefni", ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded Llangefni's population as 5,116 people, maki ...

. The A5 runs through the village, and the A55 runs just a few hundred metres north. According to the 2011 Census Gaerwen is now listed by the Office for National Statistics as

. The population of the

is 1,551. Gaerwen and

Pentre Berw Pentre Berw () is a small village located on the island of Anglesey in north Wales. It lies about south of the county town of Llangefni, and next to Gaerwen. Description The A5 and the A55 runs through the village as does the disused Anglese ...

Llangaffo Llangaffo is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales. It lies along the B4419 and B4421 roads, north of Dwyran, south of Gaerwen and northwest of Llanidan. It is named after Caffo, a 6th-century saint. A church, St Caffo's Church, is named ...

are trio villages. The village gets its name from a combination of the Welsh words ''Caer'' (mutated to ''Gaer''), meaning 'fortification', and ''Wen'', meaning 'white'. There are no clear remains of a fort in the area, although the name was originally that of a farm in the area, before becoming the name for the entire settlement.

Gaerwen Hoard

An important

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

hoard was found near Gaerwen in the nineteenth century. Comprising 2 gold lockrings and 2 penannular bracelets, it is now in the collections of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Attractions

Facilities in Gaerwen include two

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, and four churches. There are two disused

windmills A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

in the north of the village and a modern industrial estate making up the south west portion. There is a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

pitch in the middle of the village. There is also a

fish and chip Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

shop with a

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

shop next door. A

science park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park”, "technopark", “technopole", or a "science and technology park" (STP)) is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters the growt ...

on the south of the A55 Junction was opened in 2018. There is a war memorial at the heart of the village paying tribute to those who fell in both

World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

electoral of the same name as the Community exists. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 2,016.

Rail lines

The village houses the southernmost

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

of the

Anglesey Central Railway The Anglesey Central Railway (Welsh: ''Lein Amlwch'', ''Amlwch Line'') was a standard-gauge railway in Anglesey, Wales, connecting the port of Amlwch and the county town of Llangefni with the North Wales Coast Line at Gaerwen. Built as an in ...

, which was in use between 1864 and 1993. It was also used on the Bangor to

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

mainline until 1963.

References

Photos of Gaerwen and surrounding area on geographPhotos of Star and surrounding area on geographIsle of Anglesey County Council
{{authority control Villages in Anglesey Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog