Read Ebook: The Visitor's Hand-Book for Holyhead Comprising a History of the Town the Antiquities and Sublime Scenery of the Mountain by Jackson Thomas

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 323 lines and 39699 words, and 7 pages

THE VISITOR'S HAND-BOOK FOR HOLYHEAD, COMPRISING A HISTORY OF THE TOWN, THE Antiquities and Sublime Scenery OF THE MOUNTAIN,

WITH A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE

WONDERS OF SOUTH STACK AND THE GIGANTIC NEW HARBOUR:

ALSO, INFORMATION RESPECTING THE STEAM PACKETS, RAILWAYS, &c., AND OTHER OBJECTS OF INTEREST

THE TOWN AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.

BY THOMAS JACKSON, R.M.,

LONDON:

PUBLISHED BY SMITH AND SONS, 136, STRAND, AND MAY BE HAD THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF ALL BOOKSELLERS THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM.

Page. Holyhead 5 The Church 10 Church Walls 10 The Filial Request 11 Population 14 Distances of places from Holyhead 14 Post Office 14 Delivery of Letters 14 Agents 15 Banks 15 Ancient Customs 15 Holyhead Pier 18 Grand Triumphal Arch 19 Holyhead Lighthouse 20 Captain Skinner's Monument 21 Skerries Lighthouse 22 South Stack by Land 23 South Stack Lighthouse 23 South Stack by Water 25 South Stack Sea-birds 29 Reflections on the Three Lighthouses 32 A Stroll to the Mountain Telegraph 34 The Tourist's Pic Nic 37 The Signal Telegraph 37 Prospect from the Telegraph 38 A Ramble to the Mountain Head 40 Roman Watch Tower and Wall 41 Capel Lochwyd 42 Ancient Coins Found 43 Reflections on Leaving the Mountain 43 The New Harbour 45 Chester and Holyhead Railway 53 Steam Packets 55 Hotels 56 Trips by Sea 57 Penrhos Park 58 Lady Stanley's Hospitality to Shipwrecked Sailors 58 Capel Towyn--Interesting Paper by the Hon. W. O. Stanley 59 Cromlechi--Druidical Altars 62 Ancient Stones of Memorial 67 Boundary Stones 69

PREFACE

In conclusion, the compiler has only to add, that if the reader derives any information, pleasure, or profit, from the perusal of the work, he shall think the time occupied in writing it by no means uselessly employed.

T. J.

Holyhead, 1853.

N.B.--In the event of a second edition of this work being called for, the compiler would feel greatly obliged to any person who would furnish him with any additional information respecting any of the objects named in this Hand-book.

HOLYHEAD.

And thou, Holyhead!--thy time-honoured name, Shall henceforth flutter on the wings of fame.

To trace a mighty river to its source, has ever been considered a sublime and interesting employment. It is pleasing to ascend its course from the point where it opens into the ocean, and becomes an inlet of wealth to an empire, till we arrive at the spot where it bubbles up a spring just sufficient to irrigate the meadows of a neighbouring farm, and to observe, as it receives the confluence of tributary waters, how it diffuses its benefits to the tribes that dwell upon its banks. Still more engaging is the task to trace the history of flourishing cities and thriving towns. The rise and progress of Holyhead, from an obscure and mean condition to one of increasing prosperity, is full of interest. Its early history appears to have had but little attention, and perhaps deservedly, from the insignificancy of the object. In giving a succinct account of it, the writer finds himself somewhat perplexed, in consequence of the very scanty materials with which he is furnished. The historical guide-stones placed along the march of time are few and far between. There are centuries in which the footprints of its history are scarcely traceable. Roll back the tide of time, and you will find Holyhead a small fishing village, where

A band of fishers chose their humble seat; Contented labour bless'd the fair retreat: Inured to hardship, patient, bold, and rude, They brav'd the billows for precarious food; Their straggling huts were ranged along the shore, Their nets and little boats, their only store.

Again it is conjectured, that Holyhead, like most Welsh towns, dates its origin from an early Saint; and there are also the usual stories of miraculous arrivals, especially as relates to one St. Fraid, an Irish Saintess, who, it is said, sailed from Ireland on a sod of green turf, which, on her landing, became a firm hillock, and upon which she built her chapel. And one of the old Bards founds the name of the Island as springing from this mysterious lady, which he chronicles in the following couplet:--

Swift o'er the sea the floating island fled, While glorious rays illum'd her HOLY HEAD.

Whether this town took its name from the Irish, who very early resided here,--or from its number of chapels,--or from the interment of the pious,--or from the legend of St. Bride,--or from the Saint who dwelt within its ancient fort,--is surely now of very little consequence.

Their country, parents, children, save, Or fill one great and glorious grave!

In Arthur's days, of ancient date, When Cambria's chiefs elected Her Maelgwyn to the regal seat, Were Harlech's towers erected.

History says he died of the yellow fever, which then desolated the country, in the church of Llanrhos, which gave rise to an adage,--

The sleep of Maelgwyn in the church of Llanrhos.

Holyhead being a landing place for the enemy, was often the scene of violent encounters, between the Welsh on the one side, and the Irish, Picts, Danes, and Saxons on the other.

In A.D. 914, the men of Dublin destroyed Holyhead and ravaged the Isle of Anglesey.

In A.D. 958, Abloic, King of Ireland, burnt Holyhead, and spoiled the country.

THE CHURCH

Long be our Father's temple ours; Woe to the hand by which it falls; A thousand spirits watch its towers; A cloud of angels guard its walls. And be their shield by us possessed; Lord, rear around thy blest abode The buttress of a holy breast, The rampart of a present God.

THE CHURCH WALLS

Are considered a very perfect specimen of Roman architecture. The form is parallelogram, about 220 feet long, and about 130 broad; three of its sides consist of massive walls, 6 feet thick, and 17 in height; the fourth is open to the harbour, having only a low parapet laid on the precipitous cliffs. At the north-east angle is a circular bastion tower; and along the walls are two rows of circular holes, four inches in diameter, having the inside smoothly plastered. The cement, mixed with coarse pebbles, is extremely hard, and this, in conjunction with other circumstances, exhibits ancient marks of Roman masonry. The Church, altogether, will repay the time spent in its examination.

THE FILIAL REQUEST.

Beloved Holyhead, farewell! Every object around thee is dear; Thy promontory, and meadows, and dell, Where I wandered for many a year.

But oft has the ocean's blue wave Flowed lately, commixt with my tears; Since my Mother was laid in her grave, Where yon hallowed turret appears.

Oh! Sexton remember the spot, And lay me beside her cold bed Whenever this body is brought To sleep in belov'd Holyhead.

Holyhead is a place of great antiquity, situated at the western extremity of Anglesey, upon an island, or more properly a peninsula, which at high water becomes insulated, but still it forms part of the county of Anglesey. It is a seaport, market town, and contributory borough. About three miles from the town the Stanley Embankment crosses the sands, and an arm of the sea, connecting the Isle of Holyhead with the main land of Anglesey. This vast embankment is three quarters of a mile in length, and on an average 28 feet in height, with a bridge of one arch 19 feet span, under which the tide, compressed into a narrow compass, ebbs and flows with great force and velocity.

Here ocean rushes from her wide domains, With distant roar salutes the sandy plains; Now slow, serene, the placid currents creep, Then backwards roll terrific to the deep.

Though Holyhead is not of large pretensions, and cannot fairly claim the picturesque scenery of some parts of the Principality, yet its history is pregnant with interest. There is an air of the nautical about the place, and, though near to some of the most uncultivated parts of Wales, it appears to possess an ideality of its own, and one differing materially from that of the surrounding country. It has been but little noticed by some excursionists, who have favoured the public, through the medium of the press, with the result of their wanderings; although they have written largely and excellently on the Principality, they have scarcely thought it worth their notice to pay a passing tribute to this ancient place. Indeed, the Island of Anglesey, which has to be traversed in order to reach it, is flat and uninteresting. This circumstance, has, doubtless, had the effect of deterring many persons from visiting this place, and contemplating the grand marine views around it.

Mr. Walpole, whose splendid work appeared in 1784, makes the following remark on Holyhead:--"The village consists of a straggling confused heap of thatched houses built on rocks." The Rev. R. Warner, who wrote his interesting and learned work on North Wales, in 1798, merely observes, "The parish of Holyhead reckons a population of about 2000." Mr. Bingley, in his instructive volume, gives us some half-dozen lines on the place; but Mr. Aiken, and several others have not so much as named it. From what they had heard and read, they concluded that the insignificant village possessed but few events at all worthy of being recorded, and those few not of the most interesting nature. They, therefore, refused

To strike their harps amid the cheerless gloom.

Such was Holyhead a few years ago. At that time there was no harbour for her vessels, but what the rude hand of Nature had formed--no lighthouse streaming in the midnight gloom--no telegraph to announce to distant parties what vessels heaved in sight--no railway train gliding swiftly and smoothly along the iron-road--no joyous excursionists pouring in by thousands, paying their respects to the natives, beneath the shining of a Summer's sun--no coachman with his sounding horn--no spirit for commercial enterprise--no Bible Society--no Missionary Society--no schools to "teach the young idea how to shoot"--no Saving's Bank--no Libraries--no Mechanic's Institute. It could not boast, like other towns, of advance in trade, or commercial prosperity. It had rather to hang its harp upon the willows, and wonder why all the mighty advantages that Nature had lavished on its transcendently lovely Bay, had been so long comparatively overlooked.

The present century rose on Holyhead like a sun in smiles. Her growth to importance has taken place within the last half century; the time of her visitation had dawned, her set time was come; the tide of her future prosperity sprung auspiciously; the sympathies of England were turned towards her--the wealth of England was expended on her--and the experience, science, industry, and enterprise of England were put forth on her behalf. The erection of South Stack Lighthouse in 1808, the commencement of the Pier, with its Harbour, Graving Dock, and Lighthouse in 1810, the Government establishment, and the completion of the great Parliamentary road, gave a commercial impulse to the place, and materially contributed to attract and support a thriving population.

The commencement of the Breakwater, or New Harbour, and the Chester and Holyhead Railway, sounded the tocsin aloud for the advancement of Holyhead; and the advantage was taken by the spirited inhabitants in a manner which did them credit. Within the last four years, in particular, it has rapidly increased in extent and improved in appearance: streets and public edifices, large and well built, seem to have started into existence as by the enchantment of some mighty magician; almost everything is new, and everything wonderfully improved, affording ample accommodation of every kind for the numerous visitors who may do themselves the honour of reposing within its precincts. The town is rapidly rising to that respectability and celebrity to which the salubrity of its air, its rich and varied prospects, by land and sea, so justly entitle it; but like most other places in a transition state, it exhibits a motley mixture of old and new houses. The important conveyances, vehicles to all parts of the country, the railway, and steamers, to and from Ireland daily, bestow on it a charm which it is in vain to look for in any other spot in the Principality.

We trust the sun of Holyhead's hope has at length arisen; may it be the beginning of a bright and prosperous day, not only in a commercial point of view, but in a moral aspect, for with increasing shipping, trade, population, &c., will Christian responsibility increase also; and benevolent efforts to meet the multiplied demand, we trust, will not be found wanting.

POPULATION OF HOLYHEAD.

The parish of Holyhead contained, in 1841, 3,868; in 1851, 8,665; houses, 1,800. The population is now nearly 9,000, and 1,850 houses.

DISTANCES OF PLACES.

Holyhead is distant from London 263 miles--Chester, 85--Bangor, 25--Britannia Bridge, 23--Beaumaris, 27--Carnarvon, 33--Kingstown , 63.

POST OFFICE.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet