Llddwyn Island

This island is connected by a sandy beach to Anglesey, and was home in the Dark Ages to a religious community, founded by the female Saint Dwynwen. St Dwynwen is a patron saint of Welsh lovers, and after her death the island became an important place of pilgrimage.

Legend suggests that in the 5th century she fell in love with a local Prince called Maelon, but his father refused their marriage. In his frustration he is said to have raped Dwynwen and abandoned her. She prayed to be cured of her love, and God appeared to her and gave her a potion to drink, this cured her of her love and turned the Prince into a block of ice.

She was then granted three wishes. Her first wish was to return the Prince to human form, her second wish was to be given the power to grant the wishes of true lovers, and her third wish was to never be inflicted with marriage and love again.

The island contains an air of sanctity, and there are several sites of magical and religious significance. A well on the island dedicated to St Dwynwen, is said to have the power to heal (especially warts) and is sited on a cliff above a sea cave called 'The Little Old Woman Churning'. This area itself can be seen as a typical Celtic sacred place.

The place of St Dwynwens death is marked by a split rock near the lighthouse, the rock was split by heavenly intervention so that St Dwynwen could see the sunrise one more time before she died.

Directions: Connected to the headland by a sandy beach to the South of the A4080. A footpath leads to the island through forestry at Niwbwrch.