Holyhead Mountain

Holyhead Mountain rises on the Isle of Anglesey off north-west Wales, its slopes falling steeply to the Irish Sea on two sides. The 220-metre summit is the highest point in Anglesey, higher than Bodafon Mountain on the main island. On clear days Ireland appears across the water and seabirds nest on the cliffs below. The mountain is crowned by Caer y Twr, a late Roman watchtower whose name means ‘the fort of the pile’. Nearby lie the remains of Iron Age huts with traces of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age occupation, including dry-stone walls and standing stones. The slopes are covered in heather and the summit rock is quartzite. A nearby limestone quarry once supplied seven million tons of stone for Holyhead’s breakwater, the longest in Britain at nearly 2.4 kilometres. Brickworks on the north-east side closed in 1973, yet their specialist bricks also went into the breakwater. The mountain draws visitors who walk to see the variety of birds along the cliff faces near South Stack lighthouse. From the top the view stretches west to the Wicklow Mountains on clear days. Atlantic puffins, stonechats and Eurasian oystercatchers nest on the cliffs, while grey seals appear offshore in summer. The Iron Age hillfort Caer y Twr stands at the summit, its stone walls enclosing the remains of earlier huts. Heather carpets the slopes and quartzite outcrops mark the rocky crest, giving wide views over the Irish Sea.