Church Island is a small little island in the middle of the Menai Strait between Anglesey and mainland Wales. You can see it as you cross Menai Bridge but to get to the island itself, you need to walk down from Menai Bridge. Park your car in the pay and display car park behind Waitrose and Jade Village.
Menai Strait
On the way down you’ll walk through woodland before emerging down on the banks of the Menai Strait. Almost directly ahead of you is Church Island but you can also take in the stunning sight of Menai Bridge to the left and to the right the view down the Menai Strait to Britannia Bridge.
Church Island
Church Island is called this due to the historic church built on the small island. The church was built by St Tyslio himself in 637 AD. If you don’t know your history then St Tysilio was {enter info here} and his name is inclucded in the longest place name on earth – Llanfairpwllgynwgyllgogerychllwyndrobwyllantysiliogogogoch. Yes that is a real place name.
The Church is still active and has regular services. When we went for a walk they were advertising a Thanksgiving for Dogs service. It sounded very interesting but we couldn’t attend due to other commitments.
Graveyard
There’s a graveyard surrounding the church on Church Island. The headstones made for fascinating reading. We found that a lot of people buried there died in the 1920s but I’m not sure of the reason. Most of the headstones are made of slate and the carvings in them are wonderful. There’s a lot of nautical themed headstone which I guess make sense for an island nation.
War Memorial
At the top of the hill on the island is the Cofgolofn commemorating all lost in war. There were poppy wreaths around it when we went to visit. And from that point you get a spectacular panorama view of the Menai Straits all the way from Menai Bridge and down to Britannia Bridge. That view is worth the walk.
