ANGLESEY, or ANGLESEA (Sax. Angles' Ey, i.e., " the Englishmen's island"), an island and co. of Wales, on the n.w. coast of that principality, being separated from the mainland by the Menai strait. Its form is that of an irregular triangle, the base facing the mainland. Its length is about 2.0 m.; breadth, about 17; coast-line, about 80; area, 193,511 acres. Pop. '71, 51,040. The climate is mild, but foggy, especially in autumn; the soil generally a stiff loam, varying with sandy and peaty earth; the general aspect of the island flat and uninteresting, there being very little wood. The prevailing rock is mica schist; limestone ranges traverse the country; granite, marble, coal, serpen tine soapstone, are also found. The island is rich in minerals; the I'arys and Mona copper-mines, near AtnIwch, were opened in 1768. Lead ore, containing much silver, has also been found. The manufactures of A. are inconsiderable. Agriculture, though still rather backward, has yet in recent years made considerable advance in the way of adopting means of improvement. Increased attention has also been given to the breeding of cattle and sheep. The number of acres under all kinds of crops, bare fallow, and grass, in 1875, was 143,715; under corn crops, 29,048; under green crops, 10,303. The number of horses used for agricultural purposes was 6467; of cattle, the number was 40,987; of sheep, 54,106; and of pigs, 15,151. Communication with the mainland is by
the Menai suspension bridge, and the great Britannia tubular bridge, over which the Chester and Holyhead railway passes. bee TUBULAR BRIDGES. A. was known to the Romans under the name of Mona. It was one of the chief seats of the Druidical power, which in 61 A.D. was all but destroyed by the Roman general, Suetonius Panlinus. The island was again subdued by Agricoa, 76 A.D. Egbert conquered it in the 9th c.; but the native princes afterwards recovered their dominion, establishing the seat of government at Aberffraw. It was finally subdued by Edward I. The ancient remains consist chiefly of dolmens, two of which, side by side, are in the park of Plas, Newydd, the seat of the marquis of A. At Holyhead are the remains of a Roman camp.
The climate of A. is milder than that of the mainland of Wales; but in the autumn the air is frequently filled with noxious mists. The co. is divided into three districts, called eantrefs, each subdivided into two cirmwds. The market-towns are Amlwich (a flourishing little seaport of 2968 inhabitants), Beaumaris (q.v.), Holyhead (q.v.), Llangefni (pop. 1222), and Llanerch-y-medd. The first four of these towns unite in returning one member to the imperial parliament; the co. returns another.
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