Castellior

Penmynydd sits on a gentle rise along the B5420 between Menai Bridge and Llangefni on Anglesey’s north-west coast. The village overlooks the Monian ‘Penmynydd Zone of Metamorphism’, a Precambrian belt of blueschist rock laid down about 550 million years ago. Rhys ap Tudur, a local nobleman, was executed in 1412 and the family lands were lost soon after. Early in the 17th century the village built almshouses for its poor. The bwthyn at Minffordd became Anglesey’s first Nonconformist meeting place in the early 18th century. A modern radio mast now crowns the hill just north of the settlement. The Tudors of Penmynydd gave their name to the royal House of Tudor. In the 14th century Tudur ap Goronwy fathered Maredudd ap Tudur, whose son Owen joined Henry V’s army and later married the king’s widow, Catherine of Valois. Their grandson Henry Tudor became Henry VII of England. The Grade II* listed Plas Penmynydd was built in 1576 by Richard Owen Tudor and later restored in the 2000s. The house appeared on BBC Wales’ Hidden Houses of Wales in 2010. The village also contains Neuadd Lwyd, once a Victorian rectory now run as a country-house hotel. Visitors walk the quiet lanes around Penmynydd and see the almshouses standing beside the road. The bwthyn at Minffordd still shows its early Nonconformist past. Plas Penmynydd’s restored façade and slate roof can be viewed from the lane. Neuadd Lwyd’s gabled front overlooks the hillside garden. The surrounding countryside stretches towards Red Wharf Bay and Newborough Forest, giving long views across Anglesey.