Penmon

File:St. Seiriol's Church, Penmon, Anglesey.JPG

According to tradition, the community at Penmon grew up around a monastery ({{lang|cy|clas}}) established in the early 6th century by Saint Seiriol[http://www.anglesey-history.co.uk/places/penmon/index.html History of Penmon, Anglesey], anglesey-history.co.uk on land provided by his brother Saint Einion, king of Llyn. Although Seiriol eventually removed himself to a hermitage on nearby Puffin Island, the monastery prospered and two crosses were set up at its gate.[http://www.castlewales.com/penmon.html Penmon Priory], castlewales.com In 971, Vikings destroyed much of Penmon. The two crosses and the decorated font remain from this time.[http://www.angleseyheritage.org/doc.asp?cat=1045 Penmon Priory and Dovecot] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005095258/http://www.angleseyheritage.org/doc.asp?cat=1045 |date=October 5, 2007 }} During the 12th century, the abbey church was rebuilt under Gruffudd ap Cynan and Owain Gwynedd. In the 13th century, under Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, monasteries started a newer more regular kind of rule, and Penmon became an Augustinian priory with conventional buildings. The priory expanded. After surviving the conquest of Wales by King Edward, it was eventually dissolved in 1538. The buildings were transferred to the ownership of the Bulkeleys of Beaumaris, a prominent local family, and are still in use today. The Bulkeleys also used most of the land for a deer park, and built the dovecot near the church.

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The average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the Met Office weather station in Colwyn Bay, around 10 miles east of Penmon (and also by the sea) are set out in the table below. When compared to the corresponding figures for Wales as a whole, the area can be seen to be both warmer and drier than the average location in Wales throughout the whole year.[http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/wales.html Met Office average weather statistics for Wales 1971 to 2000], {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929102646/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/wales.html |date=September 29, 2007 }}

The author of A History of Anglesey, written in 1775, said of Penmon that there were "plenty of oysters, remarkable large, the poor find constant employ in the dredge, and in pickling the fish for foreign consumption."Ramage, Helen "Portraits of an Island: Eighteenth Century Anglesey", page 104, Anglesey Antiquarian Society, 2001 (2nd edition) {{ISBN|0-9500199-8-4}}

The population in 1801 was 169.{{Cite web |url=http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=N |title=Historical data presented by the Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System Project |access-date=30 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015017/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=N |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead }} The 1831 census recorded that there were 51 adult males (over 20 years old){{Cite web |url=http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_OCC_PAR1831_TOT&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=N |title=Historical data presented by the Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System Project |access-date=30 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201501/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_OCC_PAR1831_TOT&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=N |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }} and that the majority of residents were labourers or servants,{{Cite web |url=http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_chart_page.jsp?data_theme=T_SOC&data_cube=N_SOC1831&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=Y |title=Historical data presented by the Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System Project |access-date=30 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014848/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_chart_page.jsp?data_theme=T_SOC&data_cube=N_SOC1831&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=Y |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead }} with over half the male adult workers being employed in agriculture.{{Cite web |url=http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_chart_page.jsp?data_theme=T_IND&data_cube=N_OCC_PAR1831&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=Y |title=Historical data presented by the Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System Project |access-date=30 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014833/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_chart_page.jsp?data_theme=T_IND&data_cube=N_OCC_PAR1831&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=Y |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead }} After reaching a high of 291 in 1821, the population declined to a low of 213 in 1871. The population rose thereafter so that it was 300 in 1931.

The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-2 noted that millstone, good limestone and marble were found in the area. It also recorded that the population was 240 and that there were 53 houses, with the property being "divided among a few".{{Cite web |url=http://vision.edina.ac.uk/gaztext_page.jsp;jsessionid=00C986684073C927CC10AA16B0E6670F?u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043 |title=Historical data presented by the Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System Project |access-date=30 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014633/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/gaztext_page.jsp;jsessionid=00C986684073C927CC10AA16B0E6670F?u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead }} In fact, the number of houses in Penmon did not exceed 60 throughout the 19th century, first reaching 60 in 1901.{{Cite web |url=http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_HOUS&data_cube=N_HOUSE_TOT&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=Y |title=Historical data presented by the Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System Project |access-date=30 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201641/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_HOUS&data_cube=N_HOUSE_TOT&u_id=10290570&c_id=10001043&add=Y |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}

At the time of the 2001 census, Llangoed ward (which includes the parish of Penmon) had a population of 1,275. About 60% of residents in the area had been born in Wales, with about 36% having been born in England.{{cite web|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=5939602&c=Llangoed&d=14&e=16&g=413112&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=85|title=Local statistics - Office for National Statistics|website=neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk|access-date=30 May 2007|archive-date=25 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525195255/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=5939602&c=Llangoed&d=14&e=16&g=413112&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=85|url-status=dead}} About 63% of residents were able to use the Welsh language to some degree.{{Cite web |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=5939602&c=Llangoed&d=14&e=16&g=413112&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=93 |title=National Statistics information about Llangoed ward, which includes Penmon, from the 2001 census |access-date=30 May 2007 |archive-date=25 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525195305/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=5939602&c=Llangoed&d=14&e=16&g=413112&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=93 |url-status=dead }} 99.76% of residents identified as White, and 0.24% as Black or Black British. Compared to Anglesey as a whole, Llangoed ward had a lower proportion of residents aged 0–4 years (4.78% compared to 5.4%) and a higher proportion of residents aged 65 or over (25.02% compared to 18.86%).{{cite web|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=5939602&c=Llangoed&d=14&e=16&g=413112&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1|title=Local statistics - Office for National Statistics|website=neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk|access-date=30 May 2007|archive-date=25 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525195246/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=5939602&c=Llangoed&d=14&e=16&g=413112&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1|url-status=dead}} The general health of the population of Llangoed ward was poorer than that of Anglesey generally: 12.47% said that their health was "not good" (Anglesey: 10.53%) and 25.73% reported a "limiting long-term illness" (Anglesey:22.38%).

Penmon has some interesting buildings with histories to match. These buildings (the Priory and church, the dovecot and the well) are close together on the site of the old monastery. There is also an island of note nearby, Puffin Island.

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{{Panorama

| image = File:Penmon panorama.jpg|alt = Panorama from Pendament old Deer Park across the Menai Strait with Snowdome in the background.

| fullwidth = 2000 | fullheight = 561 | caption = Panorama from Penmon old Deer Park across the Menai Strait with Snowdome in the background.

| height = 325

}}

File:Cross St Seiriol's Church.JPG

The monastery (called St Seiriol's monastery) grew in size and had a wooden church building by the 10th century. This wooden building was, however, destroyed in 971 and then rebuilt in the 12th century in stone, from 1120 to 1123.{{cite web|url=http://www.sheelanagig.org/index.htm#http://www.sheelanagig.org/SheelaPenmon.htm|title=Sheela Penmon.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222091225/http://www.sheelanagig.org/index.htm#http://www.sheelanagig.org/SheelaPenmon.htm|archive-date=2007-02-22}} The oldest parts of the Priory Church of St Seiriol date to 1140. It survived the initial Norman invasion of Gwynedd between 1081 and 1100, defended by Prince Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd.{{cite web|url=http://www.goanglesey.com/html/interest/#o|title=Anglesey - Places and Things to Do|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225123133/http://www.goanglesey.com/html/interest/#o|archive-date=2016-02-25}} The priory church was enlarged in the early 13th century, at the time of the Augustinian Rule.{{Coflein|num=95543 |desc=Penmon priory |access-date=28 November 2016}} There are records for the election of Priors in the Calendar of Patent Rolls back to 1306, when one Iowerth the Prior is mentioned.Fairlamb, Rev. Neil (Rector of Beaumaris): "The Clergy of the Beaumaris Parishes" page 16. Unpublished pamphlet (available at the Church), 2007 The dining hall was on the first floor, with a cellar below and dormitory above. In the 16th century, a kitchen and a warming house were added at the east of the building.{{cite web|url=http://www.ukattraction.com/north-wales/penmon-priory.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205042557/http://www.ukattraction.com/north-wales/penmon-priory.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-02-05|title=Penmon Priory}}{{cite web|url=http://www.beaumaris.com/penmon.html|title=Penmon Priory and Dovecote|website=www.beaumaris.com}} The eastern range of buildings has gone, but the southern one, containing the refectory with a dormitory above, still stands.

Llywelyn Fawr and his successors made the church wealthy, giving it land. This was taken away at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 but the church survived. The priory was in decline before 1536 in any event, and had only the Prior and two other members at that time.

St Seiriol's Church, which was the centrepiece of the monastery, is now part of the Rectorial benefice of Beaumaris, within the Diocese of Bangor. The church was given a grant by the Welsh Assembly Government of £20,570 in May 2004.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3687783.stm|title=Historic buildings get £300,000 boost|date=5 May 2004|via=news.bbc.co.uk}} This was to repair the leadwork, the rainwater goods, repointing and limewashing of the tower roof and the superstructure of the building.{{cite web|url=http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/default.asp?id=2&NewsId=68|title=Cadw|website=www.cadw.wales.gov.uk}} Another building in Penmon, the Priory House (which is set around the cloister court of the church), received £21,600. This was to repair the chimneys, the walls, the windows and the roof of the house. The priory and its refectory are Grade I listed buildings,{{Cadw|num=5525|desc=Priory Church of St Seiriol|grade=I|access-date=30 August 2024}}{{Cadw|num=26764|desc=Penmon Priory Refectory|grade=I|access-date=30 August 2024}} and the priory complex is a Scheduled monument.{{Cadw|num=AN027|desc=Penmon Priory |grade=SM|access-date=30 August 2024}}

The two medieval crosses that once stood in front of the monastery (from the 10th century) are still in existence today, but are now inside the church.{{cite web|url=http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/default.asp?id=6&PlaceID=105|title=Cadw|website=www.cadw.wales.gov.uk|access-date=26 November 2006|archive-date=26 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926125538/http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/default.asp?id=6&PlaceID=105|url-status=dead}} One cross is larger but badly weathered (because it stood outside until 1977, in a deer park). It is almost complete except for about 30 centimetres between the top of the shaft and the head.{{cite web|last=Tolley|first=Chris|title=Penmon Priory, Anglesey|url=http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cj.tolley/ctm/ctm-penmon.htm|website=Crossing the Millennia|access-date=23 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724043836/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cj.tolley/ctm/ctm-penmon.htm|archive-date=24 July 2008|date=February 2003}} The other cross is smaller, not as weathered but has an arm of the cross cut off because it was used as a lintel for the refectory windows. It has a modern stone base unlike the other cross.

As was often the case with Celtic churches from this period, the church was associated with a well. It was built by the monks of Penmon and was believed to have healing powers by some people visiting it.[http://www.ukattraction.com/north-wales/st-seriols-well.htm Saint Seiriol's Well], ukattraction.com It is probably one of the oldest buildings in Penmon. It has been said that the lower stone walls near the well were part of Seiriol's church in the 6th century; if so, this would make it the oldest remaining Christian building in Wales.Williams, John Lasarus. The Land of the Long Long Name. Llyfrau Lleiniong, 1999. {{ISBN|0-9525267-1-9}} A small chamber surrounds the well.[http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/penmonstseiriolswell/?lang=en St. Seiriol's Well] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608054724/http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/penmonstseiriolswell/?lang=en |date=8 June 2012 }}, Cadw website page In modern times, water from the well has been used as a symbol of Anglesey by the island's representatives at the launch ceremony of the 10th International Island Games (held in Guernsey in June 2003){{cite news|url=http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/tm_method=full&objectid=13013046&siteid=50142-name_page.html|title=Island athletes draw on divine inspiration|last=Greenwood|first=Dave|date=May 30, 2003|work=Daily Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205064800/http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/tm_method%3Dfull%26objectid%3D13013046%26siteid%3D50142-name_page.html|archive-date=2012-02-05|access-date=12 January 2014|url-status=dead}} and the 11th Island Games (held in the Shetland Islands in July 2005).{{cite news|url=http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/bangoranglesey/tm_method=full%26objectid=15732323%26siteid=50142-name_page.html|title=News> Bangor & Anglesey: Great start at the Games|last=Hughes|first=Owen R.|date=July 13, 2005|work=Daily Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205064747/http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/bangoranglesey/tm_method%3Dfull%26objectid%3D15732323%26siteid%3D50142-name_page.html|archive-date=2012-02-05|access-date=12 January 2014|url-status=dead}} The well and cell is a Grade I listed structure and a Scheduled monument.{{Cadw|num=5437|desc=Holy Well and Cell, Penmon Priory |grade=I|access-date=30 August 2024}}{{Cadw|num=AN062|desc=St Seiriol's Well, Penmon Priory|grade=SM|access-date=30 August 2024}}

File:Dovecot Penmon Anglesey.JPG

File:Penmon Priory Dovecot.jpgThe dovecot (also spelt dovecote) standing near the church was probably built in about 1600, in Elizabethan times, by Sir Richard Bulkeley for housing pigeons for their eggs and meat. It has a large domed roof with a cupola on top so birds could fly in and out. Inside the dovecot were 1,000 nesting boxes, with a pillar in the centre supporting a revolving ladder to provide access to the nesting boxes. The central pillar remains, but the ladder is now gone.[http://www.angleseyheritage.org/doc.asp?cat=1045 Penmon Priory and Dovecot.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005095258/http://www.angleseyheritage.org/doc.asp?cat=1045 |date=2007-10-05 }} The dovecot is a Grade II* listed structure and a Scheduled monument.{{Cadw|num=26763|desc=Dovecote and barn at Penmon Priory|grade=I|access-date=30 August 2024}}{{Cadw|num=AN061|desc=Penmon Dovecot|grade=SM|access-date=30 August 2024}}

{{main|Puffin Island, Anglesey}}

{{see also|Trwyn Du Lighthouse}}

St Seiriol established a cell and a community on Puffin Island{{cite web|url=http://www.undeb.org.uk/seiriol.htm|title=St. Seiriol's Church.|access-date=26 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321090338/http://www.undeb.org.uk/seiriol.htm|archive-date=21 March 2007|url-status=dead}} (in Welsh, Ynys Seiriol or Seiriol's Island) half a mile from the coast at the same time as he founded the monastery. There is a tower of a 12th-century church on Puffin Island still. There is a tradition that St Seiriol and perhaps Maelgwn Gwynedd (king of Gwynedd in the first half of the 6th century) were buried there.{{cite web|url=http://www.starida.co.uk/puffin-island.htm|title=Puffin Island information.|access-date=26 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015005704/http://www.starida.co.uk/puffin-island.htm|archive-date=15 October 2006|url-status=dead}} The island once had large numbers of puffins and guillemots. However, rats reduced the bird population to 40 in the 1890s.

In 1748, Lewis Morris made a hydrographic survey of the coast of Wales and suggested that the tower of the ruined church on the island be converted into a lighthouse.Morris, Lewis "Plans of Harbours, Bars, Bays and Roads in St George's Channel" 1748; cited in Ramage, Helen "Portraits of an Island: Eighteenth Century Anglesey", page 4, Anglesey Antiquarian Society, 2001 (2nd edition) {{ISBN|0-9500199-8-4}} However, this suggestion was not implemented. On 17 August 1831, The Rothesay Castle, a wooden-hulled paddle steamer on a day trip from Liverpool, sank in very heavy seas. Of more than 140 on board, only 23 people survived.{{cite web|url=http://www.beaumarislifeboat.com/penmonhistory.htm|title=Penmon Shipwreck in 1831|access-date=26 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315193153/http://www.beaumarislifeboat.com/penmonhistory.htm|archive-date=15 March 2007|url-status=dead}} Afterwards, the Trwyn Du Lighthouse and a lifeboat station were built to try to prevent similar tragedies. The lifeboat station was closed in 1915 as it had been superseded by a lifeboat at Beaumaris. In its years of operation, the Penmon lifeboats saved at least 143 lives.

The beach at Penmon has been awarded a 2006 Seaside Award by the "Keep Wales Tidy" group.{{cite web|url=http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Tourism&NewsID=199&Menu=0.26.12.64.74|title=Seaside Award 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914030409/http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Tourism&NewsID=199&Menu=0.26.12.64.74|archive-date=2007-09-14}} To be awarded the yellow and blue flag, beaches have to meet mandatory standard water quality and must be clean, safe and well-managed.{{cite web|url=http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Tourism&NewsID=15&Menu=0.26.12.64.73|title=Keep Wales Tidy Seaside Award|access-date=30 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607234922/http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Tourism&NewsID=15&Menu=0.26.12.64.73|archive-date=7 June 2007|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.anglesey-today.com/seaside-award.html|title=Seaside Award for Anglesey Beaches}}{{cite web|url=http://www.anglesey.gov.uk/doc.asp?cat=986&doc=986|title=Best beach awards|access-date=26 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235217/http://www.anglesey.gov.uk/doc.asp?cat=986&doc=986|archive-date=27 September 2007|url-status=dead}} Penmon is classified for these purposes as being a "rural" beach and as a result the standards for a Seaside Award differ from those applied for "resort" beaches, which are expected to have a wider selection of facilities such as toilets and car parks. The beach has been awarded the flag from 2003 onwards.{{cite web|url=http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Default&NewsID=16&Menu=0.26.12.64.74.163|title=Keep Wales Tidy - Default - Seaside Award Beaches 2003|date=30 April 2005|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050430112022/http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Default&NewsID=16&Menu=0.26.12.64.74.163|archive-date=30 April 2005}}{{cite web|url=http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Default&NewsID=160&Menu=0.26.12.64.74.207|title=Seaside Award 2004|access-date=30 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027115512/http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Default&NewsID=160&Menu=0.26.12.64.74.207|archive-date=27 October 2007|url-status=dead}}[http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Default&NewsID=178&Menu=0.26.12.64.74.225 Seaside Award 2005] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022022720/http://www.keepwalestidy.org/english/default.asp?Category=Default&NewsID=178&Menu=0.26.12.64.74.225 |date=October 22, 2007 }}

Penmon was featured in film when it was used (along with Snowdonia) as the setting for The Fever, a 2004 film starring Vanessa Redgrave and Angelina Jolie.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368725/locations Filming locations for The Fever] The region was used, at the choice of a London-based production company, to represent an Eastern Europe country.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2701749.stm|title=Film star drawn back to Wales|date=12 November 2017|via=news.bbc.co.uk}} Jolie had filmed in North Wales in 2002 for Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and had apparently been "enchanted" by the scenery. The scenes involving Jolie and Redgrave were shot in February 2003.{{cite web|url=http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/tm_method=full&objectid=12624978&siteid=50142-name_page.html|title=News: The latest North Wales news from the Daily Post|website=icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk}} Filming took place at the Priory and the dovecot was used to depict a deserted church. Extras from Gwynedd and Anglesey were also used in filming. Penmon Priory has also been used for the BBC programme Songs of Praise, featuring Aled Jones (who comes from Llandegfan, a village about seven miles from Penmon) and also for filming the 1960s television show Danger Man, starring Patrick McGoohan.

In November 2020, Penmon hosted filming for the 20th series of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. The opening episode of the series showed celebrities such as Mo Farah, Jordan North and Shane Ritchie abseiling down the cliff face.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54957738.amp | title=I'm a Celebrity island lighthouse creates buzz | date=16 November 2020 }}

• Akira The Don, independent Pop and Hip-Hop musician, lived in the village for some time in his youth{{cite web|url=http://www.akirathedon.com/2009/04/meet-the-band-1-ginges-cookery-time/|title=Meet The Band 1: GINGE'S COOKERY TIME!|access-date=31 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707101925/http://www.akirathedon.com/2009/04/meet-the-band-1-ginges-cookery-time/|archive-date=7 July 2011|url-status=dead}} and blames the "bleak and depressing" nature of the landscape for making him "a moodly little bugger".[sic]{{cite web|url=http://www.akirathedon.com/2008/05/a-fucking-fruesli-bar/|title=A Fucking Fruesli Bar!|access-date=31 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707101959/http://www.akirathedon.com/2008/05/a-fucking-fruesli-bar/|archive-date=7 July 2011|url-status=dead}}

There are many geological features in Penmon, including fossils of brachiopods, a tunnel under a cliff and the cliff itself. The cliff is made up of limestone and shale,{{cite web|url=http://www.angleseyheritage.org/doc.asp?cat=894|title=Geology of Anglesey|access-date=3 December 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060511124156/http://www.angleseyheritage.org/doc.asp?cat=894|archive-date=11 May 2006|url-status=dead}} in alternating layers. It has been moved many times due to faults fracturing and moving the beds of rock, and there are distinct lines where the beds have been moved. The cliff is approximately eight metres high; however, the distribution of limestone and shale is different near the top and bottom of the cliff. There is a gradual change of shale to limestone; near the bottom there is a lot more shale per metre of rock and nearer the top there is a lot more limestone. The cliff has been struck by several faults, causing it to look unstable; rocks fall from it from time to time. Penmon is close to the sea, thus making it prone to erosion. Quite a lot of the cliff has been eroded away, thus causing an arch to form under the cliff. The shale has eroded away faster than the limestone beds, and as such, has caused thinner beds of limestone between to collapse. This is the reason the arch is only a few metres high and does not extend further, where there are less shale beds. Faults passing through the cliff have displaced the beds, one such fault almost 23 cm, causing a ledge halfway through the tunnel. File:Penmontunnel.JPG

The grey-brown veined limestone quarried in the area is known as "Penmon marble".{{cite web|last1=Lott|first1=Graham|last2=Smith|first2=David|title=Shining stones - Britain's native 'marbles'|work=The Building Conservation Directory 2001|url=http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/pdf_shining/shining.pdf|access-date=31 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927204758/http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/pdf_shining/shining.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2007|url-status=dead}} Brachiopod fossils are sometimes found in it.{{Cite web |url=http://www.stonewest.co.uk/case/files/3_32_424212337_3%20March%2005.pdf |title=Letter by Dr Graham Lott, British Geological Survey (page 3 of newsletter) |access-date=31 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928154330/http://www.stonewest.co.uk/case/files/3_32_424212337_3%20March%2005.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead }} The largest of the Penmon quarries, Dinmor Park, was worked for limestone by Dinmor Quarries Ltd from about 1898 until the 1970s.{{cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/375447|title=Geograph:: Chwarel Parc Dinmor Park Quarry (C) Eric Jones|website=www.geograph.org.uk}}{{cite web|url=http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/search2?coll_id=1441&inst_id=27&term=penmon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605133438/http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/search2?coll_id=1441&inst_id=27&term=penmon|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 June 2011|title=Latest News - Cymru Archives Wales|website=Cymru Archives Wales}} Penmon limestone (along with limestone from Llanddona, Moelfre and Holyhead) was used to build Birmingham Town Hall and help with the reconstruction of Liverpool and Manchester following the destruction caused by World War II.{{cite web|url=http://www.islandofchoice.com/doc.asp?cat=699|title=Anglesey's Coastal Geology|access-date=3 December 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818155550/http://www.islandofchoice.com/doc.asp?cat=699|archive-date=18 August 2006|url-status=dead}} The stone was also used in the construction of the Menai Suspension Bridge (completed in 1826) and the Britannia Bridge (completed in 1850).Hughes, Margaret: "Anglesey from the Sea" page 106. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2001. {{ISBN|0-86381-698-3}}

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{{Wikivoyage|Penmon}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927025757/http://www.churchplansonline.org/show_full_image.asp?resource_id=04612.tif An 1853 plan of the church]
• [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3558899 photos of Penmon and surrounding area on geograph]
• [http://www.monasticwales.org/site/46 Bibliographical sources, history and images of the priory]
• [http://www.penmon.org Family and Local history website of Penmon and surrounding area]

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Category:Llangoed

Category:Coast of Anglesey

Category:Villages in Anglesey

Category:Headlands of Anglesey

Category:Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation