Qualla: Newborough, Anglesey

Newborough, Anglesey: Introduction

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eric Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0. In 1294, Edward I evicted the citizens of Llanfaes from their town on the eastern shore of Anglesey. He needed the land to build a fortified borough called Beaumaris, a Norman-French name meaning "beautiful marsh," which was anything but. The displaced Welsh had to go somewhere. They were marched across the island to the opposite coast and dropped beside the royal court at Llys Rhosyr, in a town that had been called Rhos Vair. The town was renamed Newborough - the literal English translation of a Welsh borough chartered new. The royal charter came through in 1303. Seven centuries later, the village is small, quiet, and surrounded by sand. Its name is the only reminder that everyone here is descended from a relocation order.

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Image: Eric Jones | CC BY-SA 2.0

Newborough, Anglesey: Royal Court, Planted Town

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eric Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0. Before the eviction the place was already significant. Rhosyr was the royal demesne and seat of governance for the commote of Menai, with Llys Rhosyr - the prince's court - just on the outskirts. The court dated from 1237 and would remain in use for less than a century before the...

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Image: Eric Jones | CC BY-SA 2.0

Newborough, Anglesey: The Poet Who Sang Newborough's Hospitality

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chris Andrews, CC BY-SA 2.0. Dafydd ap Gwilym - arguably the greatest Welsh poet of the Middle Ages and one of the great European poets of his century - wrote a cywydd in praise of Newborough in the 14th century. His subject was the town's generous hospitality, especially toward visiting poets. He described ...

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Image: Chris Andrews | CC BY-SA 2.0

Newborough, Anglesey: Saint Dwynwen's Island

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Noel.morgan2000 at English Wikipedia, Public domain. South of the village, beyond the great pine plantation of Newborough Forest, a tidal sand causeway runs out to Ynys Llanddwyn. On the island stand the ruins of a 16th-century church dedicated to Saint Dwynwen, a Welsh princess and saint traditionally said to have died around 465 ...

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Image: Noel.morgan2000 at English Wikipedia | Public domain

Newborough, Anglesey: Dragons and Demi Moore

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eric Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0. Newborough's combination of dramatic dunes, pine forest, empty beach, and mountain backdrop has made it a frequent film location. The 2006 horror film Half Light, starring Demi Moore, used the coast as a brooding lighthouse setting. The 2010 historical fantasy remake of Clash of ...

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Image: Eric Jones | CC BY-SA 2.0