Ynys Llanddwyn
Llanddwyn Island (Ynys Llanddwyn) is a magical place. Located at the far end of a pleasant beach near Newborough Warren, this narrow finger of land is an ideal picnic site during fine weather, but also an exhilarating place when the winter winds blow. Its rolling dunes, large rock outcrops and a mixture of historic buildings make it an ideal place for an afternoon of exploration.
The only way from the car park to the island is on foot. You can either go through Newborough Warren, on one of several forest walks, or along the beach.
You can access the island – remember that word – most of the time. However, it can be cut off for up to two hours at high tide. It’s always worth checking on Llanddwyn Island tide times before setting out using the link below.
It’s also worth remembering that Llanddwyn is a very exposed location. There’s no protection from the full force of storms coming in from the sea. So if there’s a bad weather forecast, it’s better not to go out there. The tide tables tend to go by the wayside in the teeth of a south-westerly gale, so the island would be cut off for considerably longer than the normal two hours.
Llanddwyn is not quite an island. It remains attached to the mainland at all but the highest tides. It provides excellent views of Snowdonia and the Lleyn Peninsula and is part of the Newborough Warren National Nature Reserve.
Dwynwen (or some say Dwyn Wen – Blessed Dwyn) is the patron saint of lovers for Wales. Her Saint’s Day is celebrated on 25th January: a very popular day for couples to visit the island! This date is special to us, however, as it is the date our son was born.
A Celtic and a plain cross dominate the skyline of Llanddwyn from many directions. One cross was erected at the end of the 19th Century, the other at the start of the 20th. Both were erected by the island’s then-owner, F G Wynn.
St Dwynwen's Church is a ruined church on the island which, unusually for churches in the region, has a cruciform floorplan.
Tŵr Mawr Lighthouse
Tŵr Mawr lighthouse (meaning "great tower" in Welsh), on Ynys Llanddwyn on Anglesey, Wales, marks the western entrance to the Menai Strait.
The 1873 tower is tapered in a style characteristic of Anglesey windmills. It is 33 feet (10 m) high and 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter. It may have been constructed by an Anglesey stonemason, and it is possible that the tower itself was originally used as a windmill.
The lantern and fittings cost £250 7s 6d, including the adaptation of an "earlier tower". The north-east door is flanked by small windows, and the two floors above also have small windows, but the top does not. The conical roof is slated and has a flagpole. The present lantern window is about 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) by 2 feet (0.61 m). The optic, silver-plated reflector and Fresnel lens are dated 1861 and were used into the 1970s. The lantern was originally lit by six Argand lamps with reflectors.
A smaller, conical tower, with a domed top, can be found to the south-east, and may be an earlier structure. The walls are 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) in radius and 3 feet (0.91 m) thick, with a door to the north-west, and show signs of cracking to the rubble-filled walls on the west.
Neither tower is shown on the chart of Lewis Morris, dated 1800, but they both appear on the Ordnance Survey 1818-1823 2 inches/mile map. They both probably originated as unlit markers. The cottages nearby have been used as craft workshops, and the local community here once serviced pilot-boats and lifeboats.
Why this location for our Virtual?
We visited the lighthouse in August 2019 while visiting relatives in the area and instantly fell in love with the place. We wanted to bring it to the attention of the wider geocaching community.
One of the main reasons for visiting the island was the recent TV series 1900 Island, where four families experienced life as a rural fishing community in 1900 living and working using the Pilot's Cottages as a base.
Also, as mentioned above, Dwynwen, the patron saint of lovers for Wales, celebrates her Saint’s Day on 25th January: the date our son was born, making it even more special for us.
Below you can see Flash with our son on the island, near The Pilot's Cottages and the lighthouse, as well as a photo of the lighthouse taken during our trip.
Logging this cache
No physical cache exists here.
To log this cache, visit the Tŵr Mawr Lighthouse at the coordinates provided. To prove you’ve visited the location, take your photo, or a photo of your GPS or another personal belonging (perhaps a trackable or a piece of paper with your geocaching username on), with the lighthouse and upload to the site with your log.
We're sorry but, as this is a virtual cache, logs without the required photograph will be deleted.
If you’ve travelled to visit this location, we’d love to know where you’ve come from and read about your experience on the island.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.