LLANVAES, a parish, in the union of BANGOR-AND-BEAUMARIS, hundred of TYNDAETHWY, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 1 mile
(N. N. E.) from Beaumaris; containing 268 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the shore of the Menai strait, is
supposed to have derived its name, signifying " the church of the field," from a memorable battle said to have taken place
here, early in the ninth century, between Egbert, King of the West Saxons, who had effected a landing in Anglesey, near
the site of the present town of Beaumaris, and a body of Welsh forces, whom he totally defeated in a sanguinary
engagement; and although he was shortly after compelled by Mervyn Vrych, the sovereign of North Wales, to retreat into
England, this victory ensured to him so long possession of the entire island, that its ancient name of Mona was abandoned
by the Anglo-Saxons for its present appellation, signifying "the Englishmen's Isle." In 1237 died Joan, wife of Llewelyn
ab Iorwerth, Prince of North Wales, and daughter of John, King of England, who was buried, agreeably to her own desire, on
the sea-shore at this place. Llewelyn, either to do honour to the English monarch, her father, or as a tender memorial of
regard to her memory, erected over the grave of this princess a monastery of Franciscan friars, which was consecrated by
Howel, Bishop of Bangor, prior to the year 1240, when the decease both of this prelate and of Llewelyn himself occurred.
It was dedicated to St. Francis, and became the place of interment of many barons and knights slain in the Welsh wars: the
conventual chapel was erected over the tomb of the princess Joan. During the insurrection of the Welsh under Madoc, in the
reign of Edward I., this house was burned to the ground by the insurgents, and lay in ruins until restored by Edward II.,
who, in consideration of the misfortunes sustained by the friars, remitted to them the annual payment of £12. 10., which
they had made to the crown previously to this war. The monks of Llanvaes favoured the insurrection of Owain Glyndwr
against Henry IV., who, in revenge for this conduct, in his first march against Owain, plundered the convent, put several
of the friars to the sword, and carried away the rest prisoners. He afterwards, however, set them at liberty, and made
restitution to the priory of its ancient privileges and possessions; but at the same time he placed in it monks of English
birth. It appears after this either to have suffered further molestation, or to have fallen into decay, for it was again
restored by patent of Henry V., who ordained that the establishment should consist of eight friars, of whom only two were
to be natives of Wales. From this period it continued to flourish till the dissolution, at which time its revenue was
estimated at £96. 13. 2. The site was granted by Henry VIII., in the 32nd year of his reign, to Nicholas Brownlow, and was
afterwards purchased by the family of White, now extinct, who erected an elegant mansion on the spot, which has been
greatly enlarged and modernized by its present proprietor, Sir R. B. Williams Bulkeley, Bart., who occasionally makes it
his residence. This mansion, which is spacious and handsome, is called the Friary, from its situation on the site of the
ancient priory: over an arched gateway in the inner court is a shield charged with the armorial bearings of Collwyn ab
Tagno, lord of Eivionydd and Ardudwy, founder of one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, and ancestor of the family of
White; the date underneath (1623) probably refers to the time of the erection of the original mansion by that family. The
rich and fertile vale in which the parish is situated abounds with pleasingly diversified and beautifully picturesque
scenery, and is enlivened with several handsome seats, of which Baron Hill, near the town of Beaumaris, and the Friary
above mentioned, now the residence of Lady Williams, are the principal: besides these, it contains also the seats of
H'en11$os and Cichle. The parish is of small extent: the soil is fertile, and on the whole well cultivated, consisting of
rich meadows and corn-fields, with a few acres of woodland. The greater portion is within the limits of the borough of
Beaumaris. The living is a perpetual curacy, with that of Penmon annexed-, endowed with £400 private benefaction, £800
royal bounty, and £600 parliamentary grant; net income, £180; patron and impropriator, Sir R. B. Williams Bulkeley. The
church, dedicated to St. Catherine, is an ancient and spacious structure, in the early style of English architecture, with
a lofty square embattled tower, surmounted with pinnacles, which was built in 1811, at the sole expense of Viscount
Bulkeley: the interior is well arranged, and the chancel, which is spacious and lofty, has a good east window of elegant
design. Two Sunday schools, consisting of 120 males and females, are supported by Calvinistic Methodists; and there is an
almshouse for ten poor old men, founded by Mr. David Hughes, about the year 1610. Lady Bulkeley, in 1823, bequeathed £1000
in trust to the Archdeacon of Bangor and the minister of Llanvaes, to distribute the interest annually among the poor of
the parish; and this sum has been invested in the purchase of stock, the dividends on which, amounting to £38, are
distributed half-yearly in sums varying from 2s. 6d. to 15s., according to the will of the benefactress. Other
benefactions for the use of the poor have been made at different periods, the principal of which were donations of £12, by
Mr. White, and £10, by Mary Parry, the whole amounting to £33; but nearly half was laid out on bad security, and lost. The
remains of the ancient conventual buildings of the priory consist only of a portion of the walls of the chapel, forming
part of a building situated about a furlong south of the church, and now used as a barn, the details of which show it to
have been originally a stately edifice in the early style of English architecture. The stone coffin in which the princess
Joan was originally interred, after the dissolution, was placed near a small brook on the farm, and for more than two
centuries and a half used as a watering-trough for horses, till the late lord Bulkeley directed it to be removed and
placed under an arch in the grounds of Baron Hill, where it now is. At a short distance from the village is Castell Aber
Llienawg, a small quadrilateral fortress, with the remains of a circular tower at each angle, and surrounded by a fosse,
from which a hollow way extends to the shore, where is a mound of earth thrown up to defend the landing. The fortress was
founded by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, and Hugh,Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1098, when they made an invasion of North Wales,
and committed the most barbarous outrages on the inhabitants of this part of the principality. During the parliamentary
war in the reign of Charles I. the fort was garrisoned for the parliament, but was taken by Colonel Robinson, in 1645, and
kept for the king.