Today Aberffraw is an ordinary working village and yet this was once the most important place in Wales. From the Sixth to the Thirteenth Centuries, North Wales (and sometimes much of the rest of the country) was ruled by the Royal Family of Gwynedd. After early Norman incursions into Wales, Aberffraw came to replace Deganwy as the most important of the Royal Courts.
The golden age of Aberffraw was under Llywelyn Fawr ap Iorwerth (1173 - 1240), who was recognised as ruler of all Wales.
The Memorial to the
Princes of Wales
Aberffraw - the meaning of the name.
Aber means the mouth of the river or
estuary and ffraw might derive from the name "from" which denotes many
rivers in England. Today the aber is small because over the centuries there
have been many coastal changes, mainly the formation of large sand dunes
which is thought to have started in the 13th Century. In the days when
the Princes of Wales lived at Aberffraw the river would have been wider
and deeper and the ships of the day would have been able to navigate the
aber (estuary).
The river today
Early Habitation
The earliest evidence of man in Aberffraw
belongs to the Mesolithic period around 7 000 BC. This evidence comes from
excavations in the village which found primitive tools and other artifacts
and has been confirmed by radio carbon dating.
The Palace at Aberffraw
For eight hundred years the Welsh kings and
Princes used the Royal Palace at Aberffraw as a base in their fight against
invasions from the Irish, Saxons, Vikings and finally the Normans. Nothing
remains of this palace because it was made of wood and the Vikings destroyed
it in 968.
Aberffraw has the honour of being the birthplace of Walter Steward, the ancestor of the Royal House of Stewards or Stuarts, Kings of Scotland.
There is a lot more about the history of Aberffraw in the Local Landmarks page...