CHURCH ISLAND

In the strait beneath the suspension bridge, connected to the town of Menai Bridge by a short causeway, is tiny Ynys Tysilio, or Church Island. Its entire 2.7 acres are the churchyard of St Tysilio’s church, a small limestone chapel at the centre of the island. The church was built in the 15th century, but it almost certainly replaced an earlier building on the same site. St Tysilio is thought to have been the son of a 6th century ruler of Powys, Brochfael Ysgythrog. Brochfael had military ambitions for his son, but Tysilio instead chose a religious life. To escape his father, he fled north from Powys and across the Menai Strait, founding his church on the island that now bears his name. It is this place that provides two of the locations mentioned in the name of Ll an fairpwllgwyngy ll go gerychwy rn drobw ll ll an ty si lio go go goch. Chwyrn drobwl, or the rapid whirlpool, refers to The Swillies in the Menai Strait, and llan tysiliog is the church of St Tysilio.