Product Code Database
Bardsey Island (), known as the legendary "Island of 20,000 Saints", is located off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Wales county of Gwynedd. Encyclopædia Britannica : Bardsey Island Retrieved 16 August 2009 The Welsh language name means "The Island in the Currents", while its English name refers to the "Island of the Bards",Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1849, S Lewis and Co, London, 474 pages or possibly the Viking chieftain, "Barda". At in area it is the fourth largest offshore island in Wales, with a population of 11.
The north east rises steeply from the sea to a height of at Mynydd Enlli, which is a Marilyn, while the western plain is low and relatively flat cultivated farmland. To the south the island narrows to an isthmus, connecting a peninsula on which the lighthouse stands. Gwynedd Archaeological Trust : Bardsey Retrieved 16 August 2009 to 2010 Since 1974 it has been included in the community of Aberdaron. Ordnance Survey : Election Maps : Gwynedd Retrieved 16 August 2009
The island has been an important religious site since the 6th century, when it is said that the Welsh king Einion Frenin and Saint Cadfan founded a monastery there. In medieval times it was a major centre of pilgrimage and, by 1212, belonged to the Augustinian Canons Regular. The monastery was dissolved and its buildings demolished by Henry VIII in 1537, but the island remains an attraction for pilgrims, marking the end point of the North Wales Pilgrims Way.
Bardsey Island is famous for its wildlife and rugged scenery. A bird observatory was established in 1953. It is a nesting place for Manx shearwaters and choughs, with rare plants, and habitats undisturbed by modern farming practices. The waters around the island attract dolphins and harbour porpoise and grey seals.
In 2023, the island became the first site in Europe to be awarded International Dark Sky Sanctuary certification.
A dolerite dyke of Ordovician age intrudes the melange at Trwyn y Gorlech in the north whilst an olivine dolerite dyke of Tertiary period age is seen at Cafn Enlli in the southeast. Further dykes occur in the cliffs at Ogof y Gaseg and at Ogof Hir.
A thin spread of glacial till stretches across the centre of the island, a relict of the late Devensian Irish Sea Icesheet. There is a small patch of blown sand at Porth Solfach on the west coast and a landslip at Briw Cerrig at the foot of the cliffs on the east coast.British Geological Survey 1:50,000 scale geological map sheet 133 (England and Wales) Aberdaron and Bardsey Island (BGS, Keyworth, Notts) (with 1:10,00 inset map of Bardsey)Howells, M.F. 2007 British Regional Geology: Wales (BGS, Keyworth, Notts) pp15-20
Bards called it "a direct path to heaven" and "the gates of Paradise", and in medieval times three pilgrimages to Bardsey were considered to be of equivalent benefit to the soul as one to Rome. Aberdaron and District Tourist Link : Places to Visit Retrieved 16 August 2009
In 1188, the abbey was still a local institution but, by 1212, it belonged to the Canons Regular. Many people still walk the journey to Aberdaron and Uwchmynydd each year in the footsteps of the saints, Aberdaron and District Tourist Link : Aberdaron Retrieved 16 August 2009 although today only ruins of the old abbey's 13th century bell tower remain. University College London Institute of Archaeology : Bardsey Island Retrieved 16 August 2009 A Celtic cross amidst the ruins commemorates the 20,000 saints reputed to be buried on the island. Edge of Wales Walk : History Retrieved 16 August 2009
Einion Frenin is sometimes claimed to have joined the community on the island,Bardsey Island Trust. " The Early Saints ". Bardsey Office (Pwllheli), 2014. Accessed 18 November 2014. although his are claimed by Llanengan on the mainland. Deiniol, the Bishop of Bangor, was buried on the island in 584. St Deiniol's Library : St Deiniol : Abbot, Bishop and Confessor Retrieved 16 August 2009 Dubricius was also buried on Bardsey Island, although in 1120 his remains were transferred to Llandaff centuries later.
The Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535, on the orders of Henry VIII, resulted in St Mary's Abbey being dissolved and its buildings demolished in 1537. Bardsey Island Trust : The Island : History Retrieved 16 August 2009 The choir stalls, two screens and the bells were transferred to Llanengan, where the parish church was then being built.
In the 16th century, Bardsey was owned by Sir John Wynn (an ancestor of the Newborough barons), who was standard bearer to Edward VI at Kett's Rebellion in Norfolk in 1549.
For many years Bardsey Island formed part of the Baron Newborough, and between 1870 and 1875 the island's farms were rebuilt; a small limestone quarry was opened, and a lime kiln constructed. Carreg and Plas Bach are separate buildings, but the remaining eight were built as semi-detached houses, each pair with outbuildings set around a shared yard. The buildings are Grade II listed and, in 2008, Cadw approved a grant of £15,000 to cover the first phase of repairs. Cadw : 15 January 2008 : Funding Announced in January to Restore Some of Wales's Historic Buildings Retrieved 16 August 2009 Only one of the original croglofft cottages, Carreg Bach, survives. Given the choice of a harbour or a new church, in 1875 the islanders asked the estate to provide a place of worship; a Methodist chapel was built.
The island had a population of 90 by 1841. The National Cyclopeaedia of useful knowledge, Vol II, (1847) London, Charles Knight, p.859. It had increased to 132 in 1881; by 1961 it had fallen to seventeen. A Vision of Britain Through Time : Total Population : Bardsey Island Civil Parish Retrieved 16 August 2009 The island's small school, opened in a former chapel in 1919 and closed in 1953. In 2019 there was a long-term population of eleven, of whom four lived on the island during the winter.
The Bardsey Island Trust () bought the island in 1977, after an appeal set up by the Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory and supported by the Church in Wales and many Welsh academics and public figures. The trust is financed through membership subscriptions, grants and donations, and is dedicated to protecting the wildlife, buildings and archaeological sites of the island; promoting its artistic and cultural life; and encouraging people to visit as a place of natural beauty and pilgrimage. Bardsey Island Trust : The Trust Retrieved 16 August 2009
When, in 2000, the trust advertised for a tenant for the sheep farm on the island, they had 1,100 applications.Abigail Hole, Etain O'Carroll and John King, Lonely Planet : Wales, 2007, Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray, 356 pages, The tenancy was held by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds : 14 May 2008 : News : Wildlife Wins on Bardsey Island Retrieved 16 August 2009 and the land is managed to maintain the natural habitat. Oat, Turnip and Rutabaga were grown; Goat, domestic duck, domestic goose and Chicken kept; and there is a mixed flock of sheep and Welsh Black cattle. The RSPB pulled out of the agreement when the tenancy ended.
The island was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its maritime communities; internationally rare ; bryophyte, vascular plant and bird species; and intertidal communities. Nationally important flowering plants include Juncus acutus, rock sea lavender, small adder's tongue and clover, and the rare purple loosestrife is found in places. Celtlands : Ynys Enlli : Fauna Retrieved 16 August 2009 Two nationally rare heathland lichens are found on the slopes of Mynydd Enlli: the heterodermia and teloschistes; and there are over 350 lichen species in total. Bardsey Island Trust : Natural History Retrieved 16 August 2009 The megachile, named after its habit of cutting neat, rounded circles in rose leaves, used to seal the entrance to its nest, is native. Y Cafn : Winter 2007 : Leafcutter Bees Retrieved 16 August 2009
Thousands of birds pass through each year on their way to their breeding or wintering grounds. Chiffchaffs, Goldcrest and wheatears are usually the first to pass through, followed by Sedge warbler and Willow warbler, whitethroats and spotted flycatchers.
About thirty species of bird regularly nest on the island, including common raven, Little owl, oystercatchers and the rare chough. Hundreds of seabirds, including Razorbill, Common murre, northern fulmar and kittiwakes, spend the summer nesting on the island's eastern cliffs, the numbers reflecting the fact that there are no land predators such as rats or foxes to worry about. On a dark moonless night an eerie cackling can be heard across the island as 30,000 pairs of Manx shearwater, bbfo.org.uk come ashore to lay and incubate their eggs in abandoned rabbit warrens or newly dug burrows. Joint Nature Conservation Committee : Manx Shearwater, Puffinus puffinus Retrieved 16 August 2009
The island is one of the best places in Gwynedd to see Grey seal. In mid-summer over two hundred can be seen, sunbathing on the rocks or bobbing in the sea, and about 60 pups are born each autumn. Their sharp teeth and strong jaws are perfect for breaking the shells of Homarus gammarus and Crab which dwell in the waters. It is also possible to spot bottlenose and Risso's dolphins, and harbour porpoise. The currents around the island are responsible for flushing in food-rich waters, and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has been carrying out surveys since 1999 to find out which areas are particularly important for feeding and nursing calves.
The seas around the island are rich in marine life. There are forests of laminaria; in the rock pools are Sea anemone, crabs and small fish; and in deeper waters, the rocks are covered by Sponge and tunicate. The yellow star anemone, found offshore, is more common to the Mediterranean.
In 1925, at the age of 80, Love Pritchard was concerned about the future of the crown, and wanted it to be kept at the National Museum Cardiff in Wales. Nottingham Evening Post
The first known title holder was John Williams; his son, John Williams II, the third of the recorded kings, was deposed in 1900, and asked to leave the island as he had become an alcoholic. At the outbreak of the First World War, the last king, Love Pritchard, offered himself and the men of Bardsey Island for military service, but he was refused as he was considered too old at the age of 71. Pritchard took umbrage, and declared the island a neutral power. In 1925, Pritchard left the island for the mainland, to seek a less laborious way of life, but died the following year.
Yorkshire-born poet Christine Evans lived half of each year on Bardsey Island. She moved to Pwllheli as a teacher, and married into a Bardsey Island farming family. Gwasg Gomer : Author Biographies : Christine Evans Retrieved 16 August 2009 Since 1998 ornithologist Steven Stansfield, has been the Warden and more recently Director of Operations of the Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory.
Since 1999, the Bardsey Island Trust has appointed an 'Artist in Residence' to spend several weeks on the island producing work which is later exhibited on the mainland. A Welsh language literary residence was created in 2002; singer-songwriter Fflur Dafydd spent six weeks working on a collection of poetry and prose. Her play Hugo was inspired by her stay, and she has produced two novels, Atyniad (), which won the prose medal at the 2006 Eisteddfod; and Twenty Thousand Saints, winner of the Oxfam Hay Prize, which tells how the women of the island, starved of men, turn to each other. British Broadcasting Corporation : 24 May 2009 : Singer-songwriter Wins Book Prize Retrieved 16 August 2009
Crime writer Mark Billingham set his 2014 novel, The Bones Beneath, on Bardsey. He includes notes on the island at the end of the book, which is one in his series of Tom Thorne novels.
Bardsey apple
A gnarled and twisted apple tree, discovered by Ian Sturrock growing by the side of Plas Bach, is believed to be the only survivor of an orchard that was tended by the monks who lived there a thousand years ago. In 1998, experts on the varieties of British apples at the National Fruit Collection in Brogdale stated that they believed this tree was the only example of a previously unrecorded cultivar, the Bardsey Apple (). The cultivar has since been propagated by grafting and is available commercially. Since its discovery it has led to a resurgence in the discovery and propagation of other Welsh apples varieties.
Bardsey Lighthouse
Bardsey Lighthouse stands on the southerly tip of the island and guides vessels passing through St George's Channel and the Irish Sea. Genuki : A Topographical Dictionary of Wales 1833 by Samuel Lewis Retrieved 16 August 2009 It was built in 1821 by Joseph Nelson.Douglas Bland Hague, Lighthouses of Wales Their Architecture and Archaeology, 1994, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Aberystwyth, 102 pages, Unusually for a British lighthouse, it is square in section and is painted in red and white bands. Y Storws, sometimes referred to as The Boathouse, was built a few years before the lighthouse, near to the landing place at Y Cafn.
Wildlife
The island was declared a National Nature Reserve in 1986, and is part of Glannau Aberdaron ac Ynys Enlli Special Protection Area. It is now a favourite birdwatching location, on the migration routes of thousands of birds. Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory, founded in 1953, The West Midlands Bird club created a bird observatory, and also saw the opportunity to studying the ecology of a small island.
Culture
King of Bardsey
It was tradition for the island to elect the "King of Bardsey" (), and from 1826 onwards, Y Cafn : Winter 2007 : Kings on Bardsey Retrieved 16 August 2009 he would be crowned by Baron Newborough or his representative. Cimwch : Kings of Bardsey Retrieved 16 August 2009
/ref>
However, against king Love's wishes, the Wynn family sold the crown to the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool, England in 1986 Daily Post (Wales), Monday, June 26, 2000 where it was stored until 2000, when it was requested by Gwynedd Council to display in a 'special exhibition'; it has since been loaned to Storiel gallery in Bangor. The Observer : 5 October 2008 : Islanders Call for Return of Welsh Crown Retrieved 16 August 2009
Notable residents
Dilys Cadwaladr, a former schoolteacher on the island, in 1953 became the first woman to win the Crown at the National Eisteddfod, for her long poem Y Llen. Artist Brenda Chamberlain twice won the Gold Medal for Art at the Eisteddfod; in 1951 for Girl with Siamese Cat, and in 1953 with The Christin Children. Y Cafn : Spring 2007 : Island Artist : Brenda Chamberlain (1912-71) Retrieved 16 August 2009 Some of the murals she painted can still be seen on the walls of Carreg, her home from 1947 to 1962. Wildlife artist Kim Atkinson, whose work has been widely exhibited in Wales and England, spent her childhood on the island and returned to live there in the 1980s.
Film
Literature
James Rollins' sixth Sigma Force novel, The Doomsday Key (2009), refers to Bardsey and its mythology.
Music
Transport
Passenger ferry services to Bardsey Island are operated from Porth Meudwy and Pwllheli by Bardsey Boat Trips and Enlli Charters. Bardsey Boat Trips : Your Ticket to Discovery Retrieved 16 August 2009 Enlli Charters : Day Trips to Bardsey Island Retrieved 16 August 2009 At times, the wind and the fierce sea currents make sailing between the island and the mainland impossible. Sometimes boats are unable to reach or leave Bardsey Island for many days; seventeen visitors were stranded for two weeks in 2000 when gales prevented a boat from going to rescue them.
Further reading
External links
Categories: Aberdaron, Cardigan Bay, Islands Of Gwynedd, Mountains And Hills Of Gwynedd, Tourism In Gwynedd, Sites Of Special Scientific Interest In West Gwynedd, History Of Christianity In Wales, Marilyns Of Wales, National Nature Reserves In Wales, Dark Sky Preserves In Wales, Monasteries Dissolved Under The English Reformation, Private Islands Of The United Kingdom
|
|
