Anglesey

Anglesey lies off northwestern Wales, separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait. The island was a centre of the medieval kingdom of Gwynedd: the princes of the House of Aberffraw held courts at Aberffraw and Rhosyr. After Edward I conquered Wales, the English Crown began Beaumaris Castle in 1295 on the strait, though the great concentric fortress was never fully completed. Farther north, copper mining at Parys Mountain transformed Amlwch during the eighteenth century.