England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Aberffraw St Beuno

The Parish

The parish of Aberffraw lies on the western coast of the island of Anglesey and towards its south. Aberffraw is located roughly 9 miles southwest of the island's administrative centre of Llangefni and sits on the A4080 road which loops around the southwest of the island from Menai Bridge around and back to the cross-island A55. Aberffraw has a long history, as early as the mid-5th century a palace was established for the court of the Princes of Wales, a role which passed back and forth between Aberffraw and Caernarvon over the Dark Ages before eventually remaining at the latter from the medieval period onwards. Since those early glories Aberffraw has gradually lapsed down the scale from small port and market town downward in significance to today's small village and resort. Most of today's Aberffraw sits either upon the course of the A4080 or to its southwest on the banks of the estuary of the Afon Ffraw from which its name derives. At the time of this transcript the port and associated fish & shell-fisheries were a supplement to the mixed farming regime typical of the island. Today Aberffraw is rather more dependent upon tourism, its proximity to the coast serving a s a base for visitors and with the development of the Anglesey Coastal Trail an important stop-over for hikers tackling that trail. For naturalists the extensive dune-fields of Tywyn Aberffraw, across the Afon Ffraw, exhibit the delights of nature. As a coastal settlement the Afon Ffraw draws all waters the short distance to Caernarvon Bay and the Irish Sea. Aberffraw is sited at between sea level and 10 metres higher with a small knoll at 42 metres to the west being the highest ground for some distance. Aberffraw parish was extensive and one of the largest on the island, covering almost 6,300 acres it would have supported a population of almost 1,350 parishioners. Like most of Wales Aberffraw is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Beuno's church sits to the west of the village on the southern side of Church Street at its junction with Y Fron. Outwardly the church is a fairly recent one but this hides a much longer and convoluted history. Pevsner notes that an arch in the southern aisle's western wall is of Romanesque 12th century design albeit reconstructed in its present location. Externally the southern doorway shows styles from the Early English Gothic period and 13th century. Such is the evidence that Pevsner indicates that the early church was a typical Norman cruciform building with transepts and a central crossing. Much of this detail has been lost, however, as the church was converted to its present layout of twin aisles flanking a central western bellcote during the 16th century Tudor period. Documentary evidence shows that the church once had a western tower although this had long gone by Victorian times when further restorations of 1840 finished work to today's building. Parking can be found outside the main entrance which is from Y Fron, the churchyard is open and with no obstacles for the photographer.