In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Llanidan like this:
LLANIDAN, a parish and a sub-district in the district of Carnarvon and county of Anglesey. The parish lies on the Menai strait, 4 miles NNE of Carnarvon, and 4 SSW of Llanfair r. station; and contains the village of Brynshenkin. Post town, Bangor. Acres, 4,645; of which 384 are water. Real property, with Llanfair-yn-Cwmmwd, £5,187. ...
Pop., 1,323. Houses, 319. The property is divided among a few. Llanidan House is a seat of Lord Boston. The parish is notable, both for large connexion with the ancient Druids, and for military operations of the Romans. it formerly had many remains of both, which have disappeared; and it still retains, within distances of little more than a mile of the village, Tre 'r Driw, the spot where the Archdruid resided, .Breingwyn, a circular hollow where the Druidic tribunals were held,-a cromlech, 9 feet long and 7 feet broad, at Perthiduon,-a smaller but well preserved cromlech at Bodowyr,-semicircular dykes, at Gwydryn and CastellEdris,-vestiges of a Roman station at Caerleh,-and traces of a Roman road going thence to the Menai. Another great notability was the Maen-Morddwydd, or Thigh-stone, which was fabled and believed to possess the miraculous power of always returning to its site if moved away from it, and which figures thaumaturgically in the pages of Giraldus. The Romans effected their landings, under Suetonins and under Agricola, in the neighbourhood; and they here massacred the Druids. The living is a vicarage, united with the p. curacies of Llanedwyn, Llanddaniel-Fab, and Llanfair-yn-Cwmmwd, in the diocese of Bangor. Value, £292. Patron, Lord Boston. The church stands near Brynshenkin, and is modern. The previous church stood near Plâs Llanidan; succeeded one of 616; belonged to the priory of Beddgelert; and went into such decay as to be incapable of restoration. There are a Calvinistic Methodist chapel and a public school. Rowland, the antiquary, was vicar; and he described the antiquities of the parish in his ' ' Mona Antiqua. ''Williams, the manager of the Parys copper mine, was a resident.—The sub-district contains also four other parishes. Acres, 19,199. Pop., 3,313. Houses, 807.
Llanidan through time
Llanidan is now part of the Isle of Anglesey district. Click here for graphs and data of how the Isle of Anglesey has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Llanidan itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Llanidan in The the Isle of Anglesey | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6485
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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