Site of Friary at Llanfaes

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument consists of the remains of a friary, probably dating to the medieval period. A friary is a house specifically for men and of chiefly mendicant religious orders (those who took a vow of poverty and who depended for their survival on the goodwill of the people to whom they preached). The friary was founded in about 1237 by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. It had strong associations with the Princes of Gwynedd throughout the 13th century, and was the final resting place of Joan, wife of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and daughter of King John of England and of Eleanor de Montfort, wife of Llywelyn ap Gryffydd. The friary drew support from the thriving medieval town of Llanfaes before it came to an abrupt end in 1303 when Edward I moved the inhabitants to Newborough.

Excavation in 1992 identified burials associated with the friary and more recent documentary research has set the friary church into its wider settlement context. In particular it has been possible to define the extent of the friary precinct to the south.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of medieval ecclesiastical organisation and for its historical associations, the proven survival of ancillary features and the strong probability that the foundations of the church itself survive beneath the present ground surface. This may be expected to contain archaeological information in regard to chronology, building techniques and functional detail.

The scheduled area extends from the front of the more recent building known as "The Friars" in the north, to the recent wall which lies just beyond the boundary of the friary precinct in the south. The western boundary is marked by a tarmac roadway and to the east the scheduled area is defined by the property boundary with the public highway.