Victoria Terrace, on the seafront in

Beaumaris Beaumaris (; ) is a town and community (Wales), community on the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey fro ...

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, Wales is a

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

of early 19th century townhouses. The terrace was designed by the architectural partnership of

Joseph Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal ''Building (magazine), The Builder'' i ...

and

Edward Welch Edward Welch may refer to: *Edward Welch (architect), Welsh architect * Edward F. Welch Jr., United States Navy admiral * Edward Welch (pirate), Madagascar-based pirate trader *Ed Welch Edward William Welch (born 22 October 1947) is an Engli ...

for the Beaumaris Corporation. The development was a central part of the corporation's plans to reposition Beaumaris as a fashionable

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

in response to its declining

maritime trade Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it pro ...

. The terrace was sold off in the early 20th century and is now divided into nineteen apartments, No. 1 remaining as a single house. This, and each apartment, No.s 2-20 inclusive, is designated a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, the

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

listing record describing the whole block as "an outstanding and well-preserved late-Georgian terrace of national importance".

History

The town and castle of Beaumaris were created in the late 13th century as part of the

Conquest of Wales The conquest of Wales by Edward I took place between 1277 and 1283. It is sometimes referred to as the Edwardian conquest of Wales,Examples of historians using the term include Professor J. E. Lloyd, regarded as the founder of the modern academ ...

led by

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

. Planned in the 1280s, and constructed from 1295 by Edward's master builder, James of St George, the settlement replaced the historic Welsh capital of

Llanfaes Llanfaes (formerly also known as Llanmaes) is a small village on the island of Anglesey, Wales, located on the shore of the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from the north Wales coast. Its natural har ...

. Beaumaris's location, and natural harbour, encouraged maritime trade and in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the town flourished as a port and the

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

hub for North-West Wales. By the early 19th century this trade was in decline and the town's council sought to reinvent Beaumaris as a

. A visit to the town by Princess Victoria in 1832 saw the newly built terrace named in her honour. The houses were let by the corporation to “respectable tenants” for rents of £4 per year. The terrace was sold off by the Beaumaris Corporation in 1937 and the houses, with the exception of No.1, were each laterally sub-divided into two, upper and lower, apartments. The architect was

Sidney Colwyn Foulkes Sidney Colwyn Foulkes OBE FRIBA FILA AMTPI (1884-1971) was a Welsh architect, especially known for his architectural designs in Colwyn Bay, cinemas and council estates in North Wales. He was one of the first industrial landscape architects in ...

. The apartments remain in private ownership.

Architecture and description

Victoria Terrace is a three-storey block, with basements and attics. The construction material is

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

. Richard Haslam, Julian Orbach and Adam Voelcker, in their 2009 edition ''Gywnedd'', in the Buildings of Wales series, note that, "the terrace set a marker for Beaumaris which was not to be repeated". The

listing record for the terrace describes it as "an outstanding and well-preserved late-Georgian terrace of national importance". Each apartment in the terrace is separately designated by Cadw, the statutory body with responsibility for the listing of buildings in Wales, as a

. This is the highest grade and indicates buildings of "exceptional interest".

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* {{Commons category-inline Grade I listed buildings in Anglesey Grade I listed houses Houses in Anglesey