Cemaes and the surrounding area from the air

Cemaes

Cemaes is the most northerly village in Wales and its development has been shaped by the natural resources available to it. Cemaes Bay is an Area of Outstanding Beauty, some of which is owned by the National Trust. The village includes a natural, sheltered harbour that looks north to the Irish Sea and is the site of ancient settlements, that in more recent centuries has become a centre for maritime activities.

Since Victorian times, the picturesque character of Cemaes and the natural beauty of the Island has attracted many artists. They have responded to the sea and sky as it changes with the weather, the superb sunsets, the multicoloured rocks and sands exposed on the cliffs and beaches as well as the charm of Cemaes village.

For more than a hundred years, Cemaes has attracted holidaymakers and tourists, including Lloyd George. The main beach is particularly safe - sheltered and gently sloping with sand and rock pools - and is popular with both families and children.

The nearby-church of Llanbadrig Church is one of the oldest, if not the first, of the churches to be established, on the Island. The present building, which replaced a much older one, dates from the fifteenth century. The building itself consists of a single aisle, approximately 60ft. by 14ft., which is divided into a nave and chancel. It is possible that the chancel arch, although badly damaged, could have belonged to the earlier church, as it is pointed, with a curve that is similar to those prevalent in the 13th. century.

Llanbadrig Church was restored in 1884 at the expense of the 3rd Lord Stanley of Alderley (1827-1903), a diplomat and orientalist who succeeded to the peerage and estates in Cheshire and Anglesey in 1869. He stipulated that Llanbadrig’s interior decorative scheme should include elements repesenting his adopted Muslim faith, thus there is much red, blue and white in the stained glass, and a pretty blue glass- tiled dado in the sanctuary. The custom-made Powell's tiles show a variety of mainly floral motifs. The church was again restored in the 1990's after it was set alight by vandals, almost completely destroying it. The church featured in the Demi Moore film 'Half-Light', much of which was shot on Anglesey.