Llys Rhosyr

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

Llys Rhosyr is the site of a court of the medieval princes of Gwynedd. It is situated 100m to the south-west of St.Peter's Church, Newborough. The church and Llys occupy the crest of a low but locally prominent ridge between the estuaries of the Braint and the Cefni on the south-west coast of Anglesey.

Documentary evidence includes a reference to the signing of a charter by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth there in 1237. Originally identified by the name of the field, 'Cae Llys' (field of the court or palace field), the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust undertook excavations at the site in the 1990s, revealing the remains of several buildings and evidence for occupation in the 13th and 14th centuries. The excavated remains have been conserved and interpreted for the public.

The principal structure is a very large building measuring 15m x 9m internally in its initial phase. It had a central hearth and was later extended with the addition of ranges to the east and south sides. Although robbed of much stone this was clearly a building of considerable significance and it has been interpreted as the main hall - the focal point of the Llys and the administrative centre for the area.

Immediately to the south of the hall was a rectangular cruck-built structure measuring 12m x 7m. Three entrances have been identified and a passage leads from the south side, possibly towards another building, as yet unidentified. The walls of this building survive to over 1.0m in height.

A third substantial building, also with particularly well preserved walls, has been identified to the N of the hall.

Surrounding the buildings is a well-built perimeter wall which still stands over 1.0m high in many places. Its thickness increases either side of a well-defined entrance on the east. Elsewhere the line of the wall has been traced around the south and north but the western boundary has not been identified with certainty. Altogether the Llys Rhosyr complex appears to cover at least 0.5ha.

The extraordinary preservation of the remains was ensured by wind-blown sand which sealed the archaeological deposits and protected the masonry features.

Llys Rhosyr served as the model for 'Llywelyn's Court' at the National History Museum at St.Fagans, where two of the most thoroughly excavated buildings, a hall and chamber, were recreated.