Penmynydd (; ), meaning "top of the mountain" in Welsh, is a village and

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, ...

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 ...

, Wales. It is known for being the birthplace of the

Tudors of Penmynydd The Tudors of Penmynydd ( cy, Tuduriaid Penmynydd) were a noble and aristocratic family, connected with the village of Penmynydd in Anglesey, North Wales, who were very influential in Welsh (and later English) politics. From this family arose ...

, which became the House of Tudor. The population according to the

United Kingdom Census 2011 A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

was 465. The community includes the village of Star.

Description

Penmynydd is located on

off the north west coast of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, situated on a slight hill on the

B5420 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Gr ...

between

Menai Bridge Menai Bridge ( cy, Porthaethwy; usually referred to colloquially as Y Borth) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thom ...

and

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, ma ...

, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL61 with a community population taken at the 2011 census of 465.

Edward Greenly Edward Greenly (3 December 1861 – 4 March 1951) was an English geologist known for his a detailed geological survey of the island of Anglesey. ''The Geology of Anglesey'' was published in two volumes in 1919 and followed by a one-inch geologic ...

gave the name of the village to the Monian ‘Penmynydd Zone of

Metamorphism Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of , and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of ch ...

', a Precambrian

blueschist Blueschist (), also called glaucophane schist, is a metavolcanic rock that forms by the metamorphism of basalt and rocks with similar composition at high pressures and low temperatures (), approximately corresponding to a depth of . The blue ...

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust (geology), crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and Accretion (geology), accreted or "Suture (geology), sutured" to crust lying on another pla ...

stretching along the hill from

Red Wharf Bay Red Wharf Bay, also known as Traeth Coch (Welsh for "red beach"), is a village and a wide sandy bay in the Anglesey Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the east coast of the island of Anglesey in Wales. The bay lies between the villages of Pe ...

to Newborough; the blueschist event has been dated to about 550 million years ago. When Welsh nobleman

Rhys ap Tudur Rhys ap Tudur (died 1412) was a Welsh nobleman and a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd. He held positions of power on behalf of King Richard II of England, including two periods as the Sheriff of Anglesey in the 1370s and 80s. Rhys accomp ...

was executed in 1412, lands of the Penmynydd family were forfeited. The village is notable for its early 17th century almshouses. The bwthyn at Minffordd was the first place on Anglesey used for Nonconformist worship in the early 18th century,. The village includes the Neuadd Lwyd, a former Victorian rectory that was converted into a country-house hotel. A radio communication transmission mast was installed in 2002 a few yards north of the village at the top of the hill.

The Tudor Family

upEffigy of Goronwy ap Tudur at St Gredifael's Church, Penmynydd Penmynydd was the home of the

, from which sprang the House of Tudor. In the 14th century, a resident of Penmynydd,

Tudur ap Goronwy Tudur ap Goronwy (c. 1310 - c. 1367) was a Welsh landowner, soldier and administrator of the Tudors of Penmynydd family from the island of Anglesey. Origins Born about 1310, he was one of the two sons of Goronwy ap Tudur Hen and his wife Gwer ...

, had five sons, of whom one, Maredudd ap Tudur, was father of the

Owen Tudor Sir Owen Tudor (, 2 February 1461) was a Welsh courtier and the second husband of Queen Catherine of Valois (1401–1437), widow of King Henry V of England. He was the grandfather of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty. Background Owe ...

who joined Henry V of England's army and subsequently established himself at court. After Henry died, his widow,

Catherine of Valois Catherine of Valois or Catherine of France (27 October 1401 – 3 January 1437) was Queen of England from 1420 until 1422. A daughter of Charles VI of France, she was married to Henry V of England and gave birth to his heir Henry VI of Englan ...

, married Owen Tudor in secret around 1429 and had three sons. Their grandson, Henry Tudor, successfully claimed the crown of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, becoming King Henry VII. The village contains the

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

Plas Penmynydd. The house was originally built in 1576 by Richard Owen Tudor, a representative of the senior line of the Tudors of Penmynydd. It was sold following the death of his descendant, another Richard Owen Tudor who had been Sheriff of Anglesey in 1657, and the house passed through several families. It was listed on 2 May 1952. In the 2000s, it was restored by Richard Cuthbertson and featured on the BBC Wales television series '' Hidden Houses of Wales'' in 2010.

Governance

The community was part of the

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 ...

electoral ward for elections to the

Isle of Anglesey County Council The Isle of Anglesey County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn) is the local authority for the county of Anglesey, one of the principal areas of Wales. Since 2022 the council has 35 councillors who represent 11 multi-member electoral wards. Hi ...

. Following the 2012 Isle of Anglesey electoral boundary changes Penmynydd was transferred to a new multi-councillor ward of Aethwy.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Photos of Penmynydd and surrounding area on Geograph.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penmynydd Villages in Anglesey