LLANVECHELL (LLAN-FECHELL), a parish (formerly a market-town), in the hundred of TALYBOLION, union of ANGLESEY and county
of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 5 miles (W.) from Amlwch; comprising the hamlets of Llandugwell and Bod-daniel; and containing
1062 inhabitants. This place, which derives its name from the dedication of its church, is situated on a small stream that
falls into the bay of Cemmes on the north; and the village, which is of considerable size, is finely sheltered by a chain
of hills on the south and west. The parish, which is traversed by the road from Amlwch to Holyhead, and bounded on the
north by Llanbadrig, on the south by Llanvlewin, on the east by R13osbeirio, and on the west and north-west by
Llanrhwydrus, extends for three miles in length and two in breadth, and is divided into two unequal parts, called Llan-.
vechell Caerdegog and Llanvechell Llawr-y-Llan, comprising by computation 3500 acres, whereof 3000 are arable, and the
remainder pasture. The surface is boldly varied, and the surrounding scenery pleasingly diversified; and from the higher
grounds are extensive views of the Holyhead mountain,country, the Carservo* hills,	Holyh	mountain, and the Irish
Channel, with other interesting objects, and large tracts that in some parts are characterised by features of much
picturesque beauty; the soil in some places is clayey, and in others gravelly; and the chief produce is oats and barley.
The hills abound with mineral treasures, and the celebrated Mona marble called verd antique is found in the parish, in
great abundance and of very superior quality, being equal in the brilliancy and variety of its colours to the finest
specimens of Italy, and having been formerly a source of considerable wealth: the best is obtained from the quarries on
Maes Mawr farm, and surpasses in beauty all that has hitherto been discovered in other parts of the island. On the same
estate, and in other districts of the parish, steatite, or French chalk, exists in profusion; this mineral has of late
become more valuable and important since the discovery that chromate of iron, a pigment of great value, belongs to the
same formation. Sulphur-ore bas also been found upon a small farm called Bachanan, situated about two miles east of Cevn
du Bach, and about four miles west of the great copper-works of Parys mountain;  but no attempt has ever been niade to
raise it. Carding, spinning, and fulling, and the weaving of stuffs and of coarse woollen goods, are carried on to a
limited extent; and there are three water corn-mills, giving employment to eight or nine persons. The small creek of
Cemmes, In the adjoining parish, affords an opportunity for transporting the produce of the quarries, and for landing coal
and other necessary commodities for the supply of the inhabitants. The market, which was well supplied and numerously
attended, was formerly held on Friday; fairs annually occur on Holy Thursday, and November 25th and December 26th. The
hamlet of Llandugwell was once a parish of itself, and is exempt from the payment of church rates to Llanvechell: the
church is now a ruin, and the rectorial tithes are taken alternately by the rectors of this place and Lienrhyddlad. The
living is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £11. 11. 3.; net income, £300; patron, Bishop ofiult3zor: the
great and small tithes have been cons for a rent-charge of £422. 10.,- and the glebe consists of a good house, offices,
and 20 acres of land. The church, dedicated to St. Mechell, or Maeutus, by whom it was originally founded, was rebuilt
about the year 1533, and is a spacious and venerable structure, in the later style of English architeetare, with a tower
surmounted by a low spire; it consists of a nave, chancel, and south transept, and is ornamented with an east window of
elegant design, embellished with ancient stained glass of brilliant colour, and contains several pod monuments. There are
places of worship for 13aptists, Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A parochial school was founded
here in 1723, by Richard Gwynne, Esq., who endowed it with a farm called Nant Glyn, in the perish of Amlwch, containing
24f acres, worth £24 per annum, for the gratuitous instruction of the poor of the adjoining parish of Llanbadrig; there
are 50 children in the school, and the master's salary is £24 per annum. About 60 children me instructed in two other day
schools, at the expense of their parents; and there are five Sunday schools, in which 370 males and females are taught
gratuitously. Mr. Owen Williams, in 1657, bequeathed £2. 14. per annum payable out of the tithes of Llanbadrig, which
parish now receives the whole of this benefaction, in commutation of its claim to a moiety of William Davies' charity, who
bequeathed, in 1752, a sum of £120, the interest to be divided between both, and with which a rent-charge of £6. 10. was
purchased, which is pertly distributed in bread on Sundays, and the residue in clothing annually. David Lloyd, in 1689,
gave three cottages, with a garden to each, for the support of three aged and indigent men, to be selected respectively
from this parish and those of Llanbadrig and Llandrygs.n; John Bulkeley, in 1754, bequeathed £10 to the poor; and
Catherine Bulkeley, in 1764, left £100, also for their relief; but the interest of these last, with, a few others, his not
been paid for several years: the parish Fee, misses many cottages occupied by the poor rent-free. To the west of the
church, and about a mile distant from it, are three upright stones, ten feet in height, disposed in the form of a
triangle, twelve feet distant from each other, and supposed to be the remaining supporters of an ancient cromlech, which
must, from the elevation of the stones, have been one of the loftiest monuments of that kind in the island; the table
stone, if ever there was one, has disappeared; but the farm on which the upright stones are found, still retains the name
of the " Cromlech." There is a mineral spring near the demesne of Cevn COch, in the parish.